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Vitali Klitschko looking to fight again in December

Vitali Klitschko looked unmarked after his fight with Chris Arreola. The 38-year old heavyweight titlist is looking for another fight in December. (Photo by Jacob de Golish/Getty Images)

Vitali Klitschko looked unmarked after his fight with Chris Arreola. The 38-year old heavyweight titlist is looking for another fight in December. (Photo by Jacob de Golish/Getty Images)

Apparently, a dominant September win over an undefeated contender isn't enough to satisfy 38-year old Vitali Klitschko. The WBC heavyweight titleholder is looking to fight again in December, according to BoxingScene.com.

There are apparently two opponents under consideration. The first is 40-year old former titleholder Oleg Maskaev (36-6, 27 KO), who was named the mandatory challenger a while back by the WBC. It's a pretty ludicrous position for Maskaev, whose last notable fight was a sixth round TKO loss to Samuel Peter back in March of 2008. That fight revolved around Klitschko, in fact, as Maskaev-Peter had been scheduled for 2007. Klitschko announced his comeback, and as "WBC Champion Emeritus," he was in line for a title fight. Peter was asked to step aside, but refused. Klitschko then intended to fight Jameel McCline, but both Klitschko and Maskaev pulled up lame for their fights with McCline and Peter, respectively, leading to a Peter-McCline fight for the interim title that nearly saw Peter upset on short notice. Peter continued to refuse step-aside money, eventually got the fight with Maskaev, and took the title with relative ease. After that, Peter fought Klitschko, Klitschko dominated, and the rest is history.

Klitschko-Maskaev at this point would be sanctioned assault. Maskaev has never stood up to punches terribly well in the first place, and now he's 40. The last time he beat a name opponent came in 2006 when he came back to stop Hasim Rahman in the final minute, which is the fight that won him the WBC strap.

The other option is a little more exciting: American Kevin Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KO), who recently pulled out of a fight with Odlanier Solis on October 10. Johnson, at 6'3", has a long reach (83") and has shown fine boxing skills during his rise. He had been gaining a reputation as a guy that couldn't punch, and his KO rate is no prize to be sure, but his last three fights have all been stoppages, including a sixth round TKO of previously unbeaten Devin Vargas in May and a fifth round stoppage of veteran Bruce Seldon last September.

Given the fact that it would seem most resources at HBO and Showtime would be tapped for the remainder of 2009, either fight would likely have to be picked up by ESPN in the States, or sold on a small pay-per-view, but given the weak undercards that accompany Klitschko fights and the fact that neither brother is very popular in the U.S., the latter is unlikely. ESPN could even pretend they're going to put it on the flagship network and then stick it on Classic "at the last minute," like they did with Klitschko-Gomez.

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Maybe he is just hoping to clear the decks and take the easy mandatory to get the WBC off his back. It wouldn’t do much for his legacy but there seems to be little risk in it.

Maybe its his legacy he has in mind by fighting Johnson – an undefeated prospect. There isn’t much to trouble him anywhere based on saturday’s fight. Might aswell take the ‘0’ from johnson’s record.

by Brett87 on Sep 28, 2009 10:53 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

The only significant legacy fight for him is his brother, really. Maybe Haye.

Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes

by SC on Sep 28, 2009 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Fight 'em both

Vitali should just flip a coin and fight one of them in December and then come back next April and crush the other one.

Barring a catastrophic early knockout in his final few fights, I think Vitali’s “legacy” is pretty safe…

"Gowin on fourth and 14 will punt it away. He hangs it very high, angling it for the near sideline...HAKIM DROPS THE BALL!!! HAKIM DROPS THE BALL!! Brian Milne might've fallen on it at the ten yard line! It's the New Orleans Saints' football! Brian Milne, the most unlikely hero of them all, falls on the fumble, the muff by Hakim! There is a God after all!" -- Jim Henderson

by hakimdropstheball on Sep 28, 2009 11:38 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Somewhat related threadjack: On PTI they were talking about Klit v CA, and the comment was “There is still boxing in America?” Ha ha ha…. Boxing its on your network. You guys were just talking about it a couple weeks ago with Marquez-Mayweather… ugh I hate the mainstream media sometimes.
More to the topic at hand, I don’t think there are many heavyweight matchups to be excited about. Arreola v. Haye-Valuev winner and maybe a russian prospect matchup of Povetkin v. Boystov with that winner taking on a Klitschko. Other than those mythical matchups, with one having no chance in hell of happening, I can’t really get excited about anything in the HW division.

by waldo47 on Sep 28, 2009 6:35 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

PTI is miserable for boxing. they had mayweather-marquez (pre fight predictions and post fight “comments”) during the Big Finish which is only 1 minute long and covers about 9 different topics. post fight all wilbon had to say was “i guess drinking yoru own urine didn’t work” WOW THAT WAS HILARIOUS AND ORIGINAL WILBON

The Dude Abides

by battle axe of doom on Sep 28, 2009 10:28 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

PTI isn’t a sports show. It’s celebrity sports nonsense. Neither of them watch sports, they just get hard-ons for Tiger Woods and LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and Tony Romo.

Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes

by SC on Sep 29, 2009 3:50 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Not to mention both Klitschkos were on Sportscenter LA doing a little comedy bit about who was the best heayweight in the world. Retards.

Boxing is like jazz. The better it is, the less people appreciate it.
-George Foreman

by jsims2 on Sep 29, 2009 12:56 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

They are dorks….

It is a shame that no one appreciates them for what they are….

I didn’t find Vitali fight boring but then again I am a hardcore fan.

"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."

by Zocalo on Sep 30, 2009 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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