K2 Wins Purse Bid For Klitschko Povetkin

Today was a purse bid meeting in the IBF office for the heavyweight title fight between current champ Wladimir Klitschko and IBF mandatory Alexander Povetkin. Klitschko's promotional company won the bid at quite a large margin at $8,313,000 to the bid of $4,250,001 put in by Sauerland Event. K2 now have 90 days to get the fight nailed down. Reportedly, the projected date is September 18th, in Germany.

Wladimir Klitschko Quotes

"I am very happy that we have won the bid and will promote the fight."

Bernd Bönte Quotes

* Managing Director of KMG

"Together with our TV partner RTL we will hold another spectacular event."


So this means there will be no Wladimir Klitschk vs David Haye clash for quite some time and Haye doesn't sound like he wants to fight Wlad's brother Vitali either. Might be several months if at all to see David get in the ring with either brother.

As far as Povetkin, well its good he is actually taking the fight finally. He's probably not going to get a chance like this again and might risk a big pay day if he decided to opt out of fighting Klitschko and lose to lesser caliber fighters to prepare better for Klitschko. But, I see nothing Povetkin has to offer that will even remotely bother Klitschko. I think this will be Wladimir's easiest fight for quite some time, and I even see a early stoppage on this one....

Klitschko Side On Don King's Valuev Offer

Just recently Don King has said that he is willing to accept the $2.5 million offer from Klitschko's team for Vitali Klitschko to face the former WBC champion Nicolai Valuev that he manages. The problem is Klitschko's team offered this way back at the beginning of the year.

Here's what Klitschko's adviser Shelly Finkel had to say about this situation:

"We offered them the $2.5 million when we had the May date and the soccer stadium as a venue."


and Vitali Klitschko's manager Bernd Boente had this to say:

“That was eight months ago for a stadium fight. Now for weeks we offered them 1.5 million and that’s it. Still more than he gets or even got in any other fight. Valuev comes from a clear defeat against Haye, and all but the judges saw a loss against Holyfield. This is a typical King game. He has nowhere to go. Austin fights Solis for the mandatory position and Valuev has two options left: fight Vitali or fight Haye in a rematch. But we will definitely not raise the money. If Valuev wouldn’t be over seven foot we wouldn’t even discuss a fight. He can take it or fight Haye again.”

"That offer was for a fight that went to Sosnowski. They rejected it. King wanted $2.5 million net, plus he wanted Russian and U.S. TV rights. The guy is completely nuts. It's typical Don King. It's a joke. What he put out was a lie. That offer is over and not available anymore.

"The time of year is different, the venue is different, the exchange rate with the Euro is different. The Sauerland people wanted it for May. They begged for it. But Don didn't want it and now it's over."

"We have offered them $1.5 million for the next fight. We will not raise it one dollar. It has been on the table for weeks. King can't get more than that for Valuev against anyone else and he knows it. Let him go fight Haye again or wait forever."

---

Let's see how this turns out. I would like to see Klitschko vs Valuev, but don't think it will happen as long as Don King is part of the equation.

Valuev's Team: We'll Accept $2.5 Million

In the past Vitali Klitschko's team had shown interest in fight former WBA champion "The Beast from the East" Nicolai Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) and had offered $1 million and up to $2.5 for Valuev to face Vitali Klitschko (40-2, 38 KOs), but the fight never materialized.

Here's what Team Valuev has said just today:

“No more lies, K2. No more posturing. No more subterfuge. No more deceit.”

Valuev's promoter Don King also said:

“Due to many incorrect representations in the past, I want to make it perfectly clear that K2 Promotions has offered Nikolai Valuev $2.5 million to face Vitali Klitschko, and on behalf of Team Valuev, we are accepting their offer. Nikolai Valuev is the pride of Russia and the Russian people, and he wants to fight for his country and his fans. I hope K2 keeps their word. I hope we are done with the excuses, be they physical, financial or otherwise. Let’s get it on. Let’s go to the mat. My man Niko is going to knock Vitali out.”

Vitali Klitschko Interview After Sosnowski Fight

This is a interview of the WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko after his fight with Albert Sosnowski.. This is a translation so it's not perfect.

During the fight I had the impression that you became a bit tired and decided it was "time to finish"

Vitali: Tired? I don't think so. I'm in such good shape I could box even 25 rounds. I wasn't tired. The one who became tired was rather Sosnowski so I decided: "It's time to finish him."

Was it your plan for the fight not to be in a hurry and..

Vitali: Why should I hurry? I had 12 rounds, I was sure that I can finish the fight until the 11th round.

I had an impression it was quite hard for you to enter this fight in the first round.

Vitali: Yes, but it wasn't an easy rival. I want to repeat once more: Sosnowski is a good fighter. NObody becomes the European champion by mistake after all. He's young and win-starved. He did everything to win but it turned out to be insufficient to beat me.

We saw that Sosnowski hit you powerfully in the third, fifth, and eighth rounds. Did you have even one hard moment in the bout?

Vitali: I didn't have any hard moments but the rival was constantly attacking. He has a dangerous punch. He is quite a powerful sportsman. Every one of his blows is menacing and can finish a bout however, I wasn't hit by such a blow.

Today we inquired after your new contract with RTL. What could you say about it?

Vitali: This is a extension of our previous contract.

If you were able to choose your next opponent who would it be: Valuev, Haye?

Vitali: It makes no difference. However, I'd prefer Haye because he has a belt which me and my brother lack.

How probable is the contest against Haye?

Vitali: I'm ready. Haye makes alot of announcements but apart from it, he should know how to enter the ring. He can't decide to enter the ring until now.

What do you think about the future of Sosnowski in the heavyweight division?

Vitali: He showed his character. I'm convinced that he won a lot in this fight despite the defeat. He won fondness of the audience and those people who supported him previously. Everyone can see: he's a serious fighter with an interesting future ahead of him. He can also get more experience. I'm convinced that he'll receive a chance to fight for a world title again.

Recently Don King said that the contest Vitali Klitschko , Nicolai Valuev simply must happen. Do you still believe in it?

Vitali: It's very hard to sit at one table with Don King and negotiate. People are interested in this fight. I would like this battle to happen in the foreseeable future.

Don King signed a contract with Andriy Kotelnik: How could you comment on that?

Vitali: Don King is a shark. I can express only my sympathy for Andriy Kotelnik. He signed a contract.. Do you know the saying about Don King? His hair stand so as to cover his horns. That's why he has this kind of hairstyle. Kotelnik will find out who's the person he signed the contract with.

Does Don King lead Andriy to a slaughter making him fight against Devon Alexander?

Vitali: Let's not look ahead. I can tell you one thing: I don't even know one sportsman who remained happy after the end of a contract with Don King.

Here's the video of the Vitali Klitschko interview...

Wladimir Klitschko Fanhouse Boxing Interview

Here's a interview I personally missed from Fanhouse Boxing back in April where Wladimir talks about his past, and future fights, fighting his brother, and how much he despises David Haye.


FanHouse: Why did you choose to make this video calling out David Haye?

Wladimir Klitschko: Because this is the only fight that I want. You can read an article, but I wanted to make it personally, so that the boxing fans could actually see that I want to make this fight. We can make this fight. We've been chasing David Haye around and calling him out. But he has been bitching out on a fight against us.

But now, he can make the fight. I can make the fight. There are rules within the IBF that allows me, as the champion, if I'm going to fight a championship unification, to move the mandatory aside. I have time, and I want to show the world and the boxing fans. It's enough. Now, David Haye can make the fight as well. He knows about it, and we need to make the fight.

I will not be risking losing any title. I just made my mandatory defense of the WBO title against Eddie Chambers. The next mandatory defense is supposed to be against Alexander Povetkin, and I will do it if David Haye decides not to fight me. But I know that the IBF or any other organization will move to take the fight with David Haye if there is going to be a unification fight.

David Haye is the only title that the Klitschko brothers do not have. We have the IBF, we have the IBO, we have the WBO, we have the WBC, and The Ring Magazine championship. But we don't have the WBA. That's the only title we don't have. That's why want the unification.

I doubt that since I've been champion for such a long time that any of the organizations would stop me from making a championship unification against a David Haye.




FH: Has any other fighter every angered you as much as David Haye has?

Klitschko: Never, never, ever. I can't stand this guy. The way that he presents himself in the public, and the way that he presented my brother and myself with our heads cut off. The way that he represents the sport, I don't really like it for the public.

When he's presenting himself with our heads cut off, I can't take it, I can't stand it and I want to fight this guy. It's personal. I think that David Haye deserves to get his punishment from a real champion, and that's why I'm really pushing for it right now.


FH: Has K-2 Promotions made any attempts to contact Sauerland Promotions on behalf of David Haye to make this go forward?

Klitschko: We are in negotiations, and it's pretty complicated, because Golden Boy Promotions is involved in a certain way with David Haye, and Sauerland is involved. David has an option to fight a rematch with Nikolay Valuev, but now, probably, he will not. So, he can make it, and we are in negotiations.

But I wanted the public to know that I did not pull out of the fight last year in June. I did everything to make this fight happen, and it was David Haye who pulled out. Then, Vitali was supposed to fight him, and he bailed out again. And then, he talks so much bad things '-- that he wanted to do this and he wanted to do that.

But action speaks louder than words, and he never came forward. So it's been all talk. That's why I'm looking forward to getting him into the ring, why I want to show the public that I'm ready for him. I don't know what he's ready for. I always say that my best fight is in front of me and never in the past.

I'm always looking for my most difficult fight and expecting it in every fight, but of course, this fight with David Haye would be really exciting, because I'll get challenged. My performance is as good as the challenge. But an angry Wladimir Klitschko could be the best one.


FH: In which country would a Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye fight take place?

Klitschko: The Haye fight would be such an exciting, extraordinary fight because he's such an extraordinary talker. So he talks and promotes himself very good. So I think that this fight would be very interesting for American boxing fans and the fans around the world.

Where is the fight going to be staged? That depends on the broadcaster -- HBO or Showtime -- what they want to do. Either it's going to be a pay per view fight, or there's going to be another case to make the fight happen. We just have to have interest from American television. That's No. 1.

And then, you'd have to see which arena could make it happen. It could be in any country. Right now, it's important to make the deal with David Haye. It's not just about the money, it's about the last belt that the Klitschkos don't have, and we have a personal issue with David Haye, and that's why I want this fight so badly. I'm really pushing it and looking forward to it.


FH: How do you explain how you have gone from being knocked out by Ross Puritty, Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster, to winning 12 straight fights, nine of them by knockouts, with eight wins over Americans over six years?

Klitschko: I definitely feel that I thought that, like, three years ago, that that was my peak. But I keep peaking, and peaking, and peaking and I just love the sport. And I understand that I'm a professional, and I believe that I understand more about what it is to be a true athlete and a professional boxer.

I prepare for my fights so well, that my opponents actually have no chance to compete with me. I'm actually as good as my challenger is in the ring. If my challenger is not that good, then I get critiqued or criticized for kind of being boring. But let's face it, out of the 53 wins that I have, 48 of them, I've ended up with a TKO or a KO. So 48 fighters didn't make it.

I definitely can punch in the earlier rounds or the late rounds with both hands -- the right hand or the left hand. I just feel so confident so comfortable about me being in the ring, like I never ever have.


FH: How do you feel about your last performance against Eddie Chambers?

Klitschko: Eddie Chambers was just such an experienced fighter. He had around 35 fights, and he has beaten Samuel Peter and Calvin Brock, and this guy and that guy. He had beaten an unbeaten fighter, a Ukrainian, Alexander Dimitrenko, who is even taller than I am. And he did it in such an impressive way.

I think that Eddie was really, really good, and that he was very, very fast. But after the fourth or fifth round, his strategy completely collapsed, and he just lost confidence. And then, instead of trying to win the fight, he was doing the same thing that Sultan Ibragimov did against me in Madison Square Garden in New York.

He was just trying not to get punched and not get knocked out in a very defensive way. And when you have one fighter being offensive, and the other, defensive, it's very difficult to make a competitive fight, and an exciting fight. Also, one week before my fight, we saw the Manny Pacquiao fight against Joshua Clottey.

It was the same situation. Pacquiao was so dominant, but his opponent didn't give him a chance. Pacquiao couldn't finish the fight earlier. When one of the fighters is really defensive and doesn't want to fight, then you can chase him forever. So I was chasing Eddie Chambers for the last round, and [trainer] Emmanuel [Steward] was pushing me, like, 'Come on, do it.!'

And I was trying. I got even upset myself, and I was like, 'Manny, relax, I'm trying.' But, Eddie was awkward and was really fast and crazy awkward with his upper body the way he ducks from the punches and stuff like that. It wasn't that easily, but, eventually, one punch, and that was it.

But I felt really confident in that fight. I knew that he couldn't really reach me, and that he couldn't really touch me. I knew that I as winning every round. I was putting myself under pressure.



FH: What's your assessment of the American heavyweight?

Klitschko: In the U.S., people talk like the heavyweight division is dead. In Europe, we're saying the heavyweight division is alive. In two days, we have sell outs of over 60,000 people attending fights in soccer stadiums. We have ratings of 14 million people in Germany watching the fight. It doesn't matter which one of the Klitschko brothers are fighting, people are getting excited.

And we're very excited and thankful for that. In the U.S., we need the broadcasters, HBO, to broadcast the fight. Last fight, with Chambers, I was very upset that HBO didn't broadcast, because you have to give credit to the best American challenger, Eddie Chambers. He's American, and he flew overseas and he was fighting the heavyweight championship of the world.

To not show it, you're kind of disrespectful to the sport, and, ultimately, disrespectful to Eddie Chambers. Emmanuel keeps telling me, 'Wladimir, you just have to keep winning the fights, keep winning the fights, and those big fights are coming up.'

He says, 'It was the same situation with Mike Tyson, it was the same situation, with Lennox Lewis, it was the same situation with Evander Holyfield, same thing with Joe Louis.' You have to just stay focused and stay active, and the big fights in the U.S. with American contenders will come up, and it will be exciting again.

I trust Manny, and I think that he's right. I just have to keep winning, and that's what I'm doing.


FH: Finally, would you fight your brother under any circumstances?

Klitschko: There's always an exception to every rule. If the world was going to go down, and our fight could save the world, probably, we're going to make the fight.

---

I hope this fight happens soon between Haye and Klitschko. This was back in April and here we are almost the middle of June and Haye is still SILENT...

Steward: Haye Doesn't Have Any Guts!

Emanuel Steward, trainer of Wladimir Klitschko. was recently interviewed on "On The Ropes Boxing Radio" and talked about Cotto, Wladimir Klitschko and his future potential fights with Povetkin, and Haye, and other matters. Here's is what he said in regard to Wladimir:


On how Cotto compares to guys like Wladimir Klitschko and Lennox Lewis in terms of having the ability to bounce back from the low point in his career in order to still go on to accomplish great things:
“I would say so, but one of the things—yes is your answer—but one of the things that’s very tough for Miguel is he’s in a super, super talented division. I should say divisions, which means when you’re fighting against a super star, almost all Hall of Fame future fighters, and you’re fighting them on a consistent basis, it’s very difficult. Lennox did not have that many really super talented fighters at that time. There were good guys, but not on the level that Miguel has and he’s right there in between that 147 and 154 which is only seven pounds. So the fights that we can make with him would possibly be with Paul Williams, and maybe the Mayweathers and Pacquiao, Cintron, Angulo—I mean, there’s lots of difficult fights where it may not be that easy for him to be so dominating, but I think he’s in a great position now to be right in the mix and very respected as compared to where he’s been the last two or three years with the very tough fights that he’s had and hasn’t had a decisive victory over any of the elite fighters so to say. Just closely getting by with Clottey and Mosley, then the Margarito fight, even the Zab Judah fight was a very brutal tough fight. All of those fights were very physically tough fights that he suffered a lot of punishment in, so he’s an amazing person just to see him training the way he is with the enthusiasm looking like a young kid.”

His views on the recent news that David Haye ignored a 50-50 offer with no future options from the Klitschko Camp:
“I don’t think they will ever get that little puppy David Haye to come out from under the bed. He’s going to let his manager stay out there and lock all of the doors and protect him. I don’t think we’ll ever see David Haye fight. We may see him draw some more cartoon sketches and cut them up and do stuff like that, but I can’t understand how a guy can claim that he’s even a solid heavyweight, let alone hold a belt, and let a man talk to you the way Wladimir’s spoken about him or I’ve spoken about him. He has had no response and Wladimir is putting I think about three titles on the line plus the Ring title, and doing everything—and he still won’t even sit down and even talk about it. I personally don’t think that David Haye has any guts at all when it comes down to fighting the Klitschkos and he can’t find all these excuses about money when the man is willing to put all of his titles on the line and do a 50-50 share right down the middle with you. And it’s the only big fight out there in boxing in the heavyweight division that people want to see, and really, the biggest fight in boxing outside of Mayweather and Pacquiao. With all of that interest that he created with his mouth, never did he do anything with his fists, and still to be in that position that makes him look like a genius if he took the fight because without doing anything, just running around and bragging and hassling and bad-mouthing the Klitschkos—he has worked himself into a great position to make possibly up to, I don’t know, maybe twenty or thirty million dollars. Then to walk away from it, the only way I can look at it is he doesn’t have any guts.”


On a potential fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin:
“I think that with Teddy training him, I think he will improve and he’s a good solid fighter. He has a good solid amateur apprenticeship behind him just like Wladimir, but Wladimir is just such an exceptional fighter that I just can’t see Povetkin or anyone beat Wladimir the way he’s fighting now at the top of his game. At least in Povetkin, he is a solid balanced type fighter who is technically very sound, but he just doesn’t have that extra super punch, or extra craftiness, or extra speed, or that little extra something that it would take to be a real big serious threat to Wladimir, but it would be a very interesting fight between two Gold Medal winners in the Olympics and everything. The big fight is really Haye, but Wladimir is doing what he should do. He said, ‘I’m going to stay busy, and until Haye wants to come away from under the bed, I’m going to just go out and fight whoever I have to fight’. Povetkin is a guy, he’ll fight Povetkin, it will be a very interesting fight still but I just can’t see right now anyone in the heavyweight division really beating Wladimir at this point at time. Povetkin is probably about the best solid challenge out there next to David Haye, and maybe the only challenge because David Haye I don’t think wants to get involved in any of this, anyway. So it’s a fight Wladimir has to take to stay busy and to maintain and keep his IBF title, which he considers all of his belts very precious and he’s never taken the attitude of ‘Oh I can just give up a belt’ or ‘It doesn’t mean anything, I’m bigger than the belt’. Those belts mean a lot to him, even though sometimes I question him, but he says they mean a lot to him and he wants to keep all of his belts so that’s it. I hope it takes place in September or October.”


On whether he believes we will ever see a fight between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye:
“I don’t think so, with the kind of money and the public attacks he’s undergoing and everything else, I don’t think that David Haye will ever fight Wladimir. I mean you can’t give him any more. The public has demanded the fight. You, David, created it and still after getting the kind of money—it’s not like he even came back talking about even more money. He doesn’t want to talk, period, anymore. He’s got laryngitis now, but I don’t think we’ll ever see that fight.”

Here is a video of some of the interview about Wladimir Klitschko:

Klitschko Brothers Stamp

Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko were recently commemorated with a stamp bearing their pictures by the Ukrainian National Post Office. 170,000 of these stamps will be printed, and the stamp is worth $1.50 in US currency.

Wladimir Klitschko wins IBF Walcott Award

On Friday, June 4, 2010 there was the IBF/USBA convention. The day began early and was dedicated to the judges, referees and medical seminars which are a very important portion of the convention.

The day ended with the organization’s annual banquet with several awards were given out in the evening, including the organization’s most prestigious honor, the Jersey Joe Walcott award, which was awarded to the current IBF/IBO/WBO/RING heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and received by Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions.