Integrated Sports PPV picks up Vitali Klitschko-Albert Sosnowski

I guess Klitschko.com turned out to not be such a great PPV venture in the United States after all.

Just over a month after Team Klitschko decided to host the Wladimir Klitschko-Eddie Chambers fight online instead of having it distributed in the States by Integrated Sports or any other independent pay-per-view carrier, the decision has been made to go that exact route for the May 29 fight between Vitali Klitschko and Albert Sosnowski.

The event will be priced at $24.95, which is about as affordable as it gets. Which is good, because this is an awful mismatch and a fight that really shouldn't be happening. It is, with all due respect to Vitali, the easiest fight that Klitschko could have found where he had a reason why he's doing it.

As in, "Hey Vitali, why are you fighting this freakin' guy?" And Vitali could reply, "He's European heavyweight champion!" That title is now held by Audley Harrison, and was nearly picked up by the very faded Michael Sprott.

I have ordered some crap in my time. Fights I knew, whether I'd admit it or not, would be bad. Valuev-Holyfield, Valuev-Haye, Hopkins-Jones II, etc. But I think this is one I won't pay $25 to see. They won't have a useful undercard (Johnathon Banks is tentatively scheduled to take on someone faded or no good) and Vitali-Sosnowski just has zero intrigue. Hopkins-Jones was at least a rematch that deep down I had to see, as a longtime fan and admirer of both. Valuev-Haye had Haye, who I find very interesting. Valuev-Holyfield was, in theory, a last-ditch shot for Evander in a freak show fight.

But this is just Vitali Klitschko taking an easy stay-busy fight while he waits for someone else to come calling. Sosnowski has no chance. Vitali is even having trouble finding ways to categorize this fight as one worth watching.

"I watched Sosnowski's fights and must admit that he is a very experienced, quick and tough opponent," Klitschko says in the press release. "He will do anything to get my belt but I promise that this is not going to happen."

The language is interesting here. He has to "admit" that Sosnowski is "very experienced." Sosnowski is really neither quick nor particularly tough, as Zuri Lawrence (the guy with no knockouts) nearly knocked him out. Compared to Vitali, he is pretty small, so that might give the illusion of quickness, but he's not. Sosnowski won the European title against Paolo Vidoz, one of those gift fights for whoever wound up winning. Vidoz hasn't beaten anyone worth their salt in about five years and Sosnowski was coming off a draw with Francesco Pianeta.

At least Sosnowski isn't jivin'. "This is a dream come true," he said. He goes on to talk about how he's going to surprise everyone (he won't), but I like leaving it at that. It's definitely a dream.

Most interestingly, this means that Integrated will present two pay-per-views on the same date, as that night they'll be the distributor for the Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. and Roman Martinez double-header from Puerto Rico.