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The postponed fight between world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and America's Eddie Chambers is likely to land in March. The bout was originally talked about for December, but a shoulder injury will keep Klitschko on the shelf for a while.
The linked story also quotes Wladimir as indicating that rumors of HBO not having the budget to buy the broadcast rights might not be totally bunk, which may also have played a big hand in the fight moving. Klitschko says:
"HBO really has problems with funds. ... [I]n the United States, Vitali's and my bouts are televised on a free channel, ESPN. In this case money is not a priority for me, because we have other broadcasting partners."
Just for quick reference, recent histories of the two men:
| Date | Fight | U.S. Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|
| 2009-09-26 | Vitali v. Chris Arreola | HBO |
| 2009-06-20 | Wladimir v. Ruslan Chagaev | ESPN Classic* |
| 2009-03-21 | Vitali v. Juan Carlos Gomez | ESPN Classic |
| 2008-12-13 | Wladimir v. Hasim Rahman | HBO |
| 2008-10-11 | Vitali v. Samuel Peter | Showtime |
| 2008-07-12 | Wladimir v. Tony Thompson | HBO |
| 2008-02-23 | Wladimir v. Sultan Ibragimov | HBO |
| 2007-07-07 | Wladimir v. Lamon Brewster II | HBO |
| 2007-03-10 | Wladimir v. Ray Austin | HBO |
| 2006-11-11 | Wladimir v. Calvin Brock | HBO |
| 2006-04-22 | Wladimir v. Chris Byrd II | HBO |
| 2005-09-24 | Wladimir v. Samuel Peter | HBO |
* Klitschko was due to fight David Haye on HBO. The network chose to pass on the replacement bout against Chagaev.
Klitschko's last fight was supposed to be on HBO, and Vitali's next fight is on HBO, plus it's HBO that has been the network interested in Wlad-Chambers, so this "We're on ESPN" bit is a little bizarre to say the least. The only fight in about four years that either have had on ESPN on purpose was Vitali-Juan Carlos Gomez, and it's generous to say that ESPN Classic is ESPN.
I just don't get why he said that. Was he trying to impress somebody? Pick up some chicks? Did he legitimately forget that he always fights on HBO and almost never on anything to do with ESPN?