Team Stiverne calls for action Vitali Klitschko holding WBC belt hostage

08/14/201308/13/2013 EOTTM

801 OTTAWA, Canada (August 13, 2013) -The latest ruling by the World Boxing Council (WBC), allowing its heavyweight champion, Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko (45-2, 41 KOs), to avoid fighting No. 1 mandatory challenger Bermane “B. Ware” Stiverne (23-1, 20 KOs), has drawn anger from an increasingly frustrated Team Stiverne.

Stiverne has already won not one, but two WBC title eliminators, the latest against Chris Arreola (35-3, 30 KOs) on HBO this past April 27, and three different mandated purse bids have been postponed. Now, the WBC has announced that the 42-year-old Klitschko has suffered an injury to his right hand and he won’t return to the ring until 2014. Plus, the WBC will not make a decision regarding his title situation until the first-quarter of 2014, leaving Stiverne waiting even longer for his much deserved world title shot.

“I would hate to think the WBC treats some fighters more highly than others,” a terribly disappointed Stiverne said. “I don’t understand. (Timothy) Bradley was stripped when he was injured but I’ve read that the WBC would never strip Vitali. Do they have favorites? All fighters should be treated the same. We haven’t heard anything directly from the WBC. The WBC isn’t respecting us or its own rules. I remember when (Oleg) Maskaev was hurt before his fight with (Sam) Peter and Peter was named the WBC Interim champion. This isn’t fair or respectful, and it’s bad for boxing.”

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“Colonel” Bob Sheridan Says The Klitschkos “Need David Tua”

08/06/201308/05/2013 James Slater

tua432323 As fans will possibly be aware, heavyweight powerhouse David Tua, arguably one of the best fighters never to have captured a major title, will be back in action later this month, when the 40-year-old will tangle with Russian giant Alexander Ustinov.

The fight, a big deal in New Zealand like all of Tua’s fights, will mark “The Tuaman’s” first ring appearance for two years (his rematch loss to Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett) and the Samoan slugger’s fans are hoping their hero can launch one last assault on the heavyweight championship of the world.

I’ve always been a fan of Tua, since he burst onto the scene with his chilling destruction of John Ruiz. And I do think that a prime Tua – say the wrecking machine that ruined Ruiz and went to war with the could-have-been-great Ike Ibeabuchi – would have given Wladimir Klitschko a fierce argument.

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V. Klitschko vs. Stiverne WBC purse bid postponed again

07/30/201307/29/2013 ESB

vitali433 OTTAWA, Canada (July 26, 2013) — When heavyweight contender Bermane “B. Ware” Stiverne (21-1, 20 KOs) upset Chris Arreola (35-3, 30 KOs) on HBO this past April 27, in a title elimination bout, it set-up the dangerous Canadian for a super fight versus future Hall of Famer and long-time World Boxing Council (WBC) World Heavyweight Champion, Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KOs).

Stiverne completely dominated former world title challenger Arreola, dropping him in the third round, en route to a unanimous 12-round decision (118-109, 117-110, 117-110) for the vacant WBC Silver title.

A purse bid was set and postponed, reset and re-postponed. Finally, July 22 was supposed to be the final purse bid date when, surprisingly, the WBC once again granted another extension requested by the Team Klitschko, forcing the mandatory challenger to wait once again for his world title shot that he has now earned twice by winning a pair “title elimination” bouts. WBO No. 1 contender Stiverne, who is also rated No. 10 in the world by The Ring Magazine, had knocked out Ray Austin in the 10th round of their WBC heavyweight title eliminator on June 25, 2011.

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Chisora: Me and Vitali have unfinished business

07/21/201307/20/2013 Kevin Chittenden

chisora106 Earlier tonight, British heavyweight Dereck Chisora (17-4, 11 KO’s) got a surprise stoppage over American Malik Scott (35-1-1, 12 KO’s) in London, England. Chisora stopped Scott in the 6th round, and there’s still questions remaining whether Scott beat the count.

Replays show that Scott was on his feet at the count of 9, but the referee waived it off anyway. Chisora said after the fight that he wants to go to Germany and fight WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko again.

Chisora said this in the post-fight interview with BoxNation: “I want to fight the Klitschkos. I want to go back to Germany. Me and the older brother [Vitali Klitschko] have unfinished business.”

Vitali beat Chisora by a 12 round unanimous decision last year in February in a fight where Vitali injured his left shoulder in the 2nd round and had to fight with just his right hand for the remainder of the fight.

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Tony Thompson wants Vitali or Tyson Fury next

07/07/2013 Michael Collins

Fresh off his easy 5th round stoppage win over the previously highly hyped heavyweight David Price (15-2, 13 KO’s) from Britain, Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) is now looking for some much bigger game in the form of WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko for a title shot.

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Vitali: The Haye fight isn’t interesting to me

03/28/201303/27/2013 Kevin Chittenden

vitali234 WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KO’s) says a future fight isn’t an appealing one to him, and it’s not one that’s high on his immediate agenda. Vitali plans on continuing his career, but his main plan is to defend against his top challenger rather than giving Haye a shot at the title.

Vitali’s rationale is he gave Haye the opportunity to fight him last September when Vitali offered him a fight in Moscow, Russia. Haye said no to fight, so Vitali says he moved on and isn’t thinking about Haye anymore.

If Haye wants the fight with Vitali, he’s going to have to wait a long time and put himself in position for the fight by getting ranked high by the World Boxing Council. Haye is currently ranked #5 by the WBC.

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The Klitschko Craft – a proven formula for success

03/28/201303/27/2013 Andrew Picken

wladimir333 Love them or hate them the Klitschko’s demand respect. With the rumours surrounding Vitali’s inevitable exit to pursue his political ambitions in the Ukraine let’s forget the critics and examine why they have ruled the Heavyweight division so consistently since Lewis’s retirement. Comparisons will inevitably be made at how these two brothers would fare in a different heavyweight era, but the fact of the matter remains these guys remain at the top of their game for a reason, or rather reasons.

Despite the obvious physical attributes the Klitschkos bring to the ring, what really sets them apart from other contenders is there in fight intelligence and to a greater degree there out of ring intelligence. First of all let’s take a brief look at their fight strategies. It’s been well documented by many commentators and observers that the Klitschkos like to stay behind that ram rod like jab. They are comfortable at range, they have control and can dictate the pace.

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A Period of Transition in the Heavyweight Division

02/19/201302/19/2013 ESB

547 547 By Michael Montero – This Saturday will be an important one in the heavyweight landscape, featuring big step up bouts for prospects from three different parts of the world. In Huntington, New York, American Malik Scott (35-0) faces Ukrainian Vyacheslav Glazkov (14-0), while on the other side of the pond; Englishman David Price (15-0) squares off against American veteran Tony Thompson (36-3) in Liverpool. For Scott, a pro since 2000 who’s been ridiculed for never stepping up, it’s the moment of truth. For Glazkov, a bronze medalist in the 2008 Beijing games, this is his second straight bout on American airwaves and easily the biggest test in his short pro career. And for Price, the 6’8” giant (himself a former bronze medalist), an empathic win over Thompson puts him on the fast track for an eventual title shot.

This is a microcosm of things to come. Things are changing in the heavyweight division. New history is being written, yet old history is being repeated. It’s all part of a cycle: weak, average and strong eras – with the occasional golden era sprinkled in every few generations – only to collapse and repeat again. One could argue that the years following Lennox Lewis’ retirement were an average era, with quality fighters like Chris Byrd, Lamon Brewster, Hasim Rahman, Andrew Golota, both Klitschkos and several others, but no clear owner of the division. In recent years we’ve suffered through a weak era, with the Klitschko brothers having cleaned out the entire division and seemingly no willing, proven, legitimate challenge for the alpha dogs. Yet things are shaping up to start getting pretty damn interesting over the next few years, and fans all over the world are getting excited.

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Haye: I can give Vitali the mega-fight his resume is missing

01/10/201301/09/2013 ESB

haye324 haye324 By Michael Collins: David Haye (26-2, 24 KO’s) still isn’t giving up in his seemingly hopeless pursuit of a big money fight against 41-year-old WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KO’s) despite the apparent lack of interest coming from the 6’7” Ukrainian. It seems like the more Vitali ignores Haye, the more Haye continues to talk up a fight between him and Vitali.

Haye said to the telegraph.co.uk “There’s nobody else in heavyweight division that can give RTL the viewing figures…But the bottom line is that he’s a fighter and hopefully he wants the fight the fans want. He’s never had that flagship fight, that one mega-fight that people will always remember him for.”

I don’t think Haye would be a fight that would make much of a serious impact on Vitali’s resume to tell you the truth. Having Haye on his resume would be pretty much about the same as having other guys like Shannon Briggs, Samuel Peter and Corrie Sanders.

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Haye: If Vitali retires, I may follow him

01/07/201301/07/2013 ESB

By Michael Collins: David Haye wants a fight against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in the worst way imaginable and Haye’s not interested in staying busy while Vitali decides what he wants to do with his boxing career. Haye says might retire if he doesn’t get the Vitali fight. He’s telling everyone that’s willing to listen to speak how badly he wants the Vitali fight. It’s one of those things where he’s totally dialed into this fight and doesn’t want fight anyone else for some peculiar reason.

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