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Vitali Klitschko Can't Get At Maskaev
Negotiations on the fight for the most prestigious title in boxing, the World Boxing Council's world heavyweight championship, are on the brink of collapse. Current titleholder Russian Oleg Maskaev and honorary WBC champion Vitali Klitschko, who has been away from the ring for a year and a half, are set to face off in Moscow in June, but Klitschko told Kommersant yesterday that the unwillingness of Maskaev's and Nigerian boxer Samuel Peter's representatives to reach a compromise is endangering the negotiating process.
Klitschko denied statements made by Peter's manager Ivailo Gotzev that Maskaev would face Peter instead of Klitschko. Peter is the official challenger for the title. Klitschko said that difficulties with both Maskaev and Peter are inhibiting negotiations. “They don't know what they are worth,” Klitschko commented, saying that both of them want to receive twice the amount of money they have ever received before and that Peter has conditions in addition to that,
Kommersant has learned that the companies that want to organize the match (including Parter and kassir.ru) have also objected to the large expenses involved. An additional complication is that the World Boxing Organization has scheduled a title match between its fighters Russian Sultan Ibragimov and American Shannon Briggs, also in Moscow. It was announced on Saturday that that match would be relocated to the United States, however.
Klitschko told Kommersant that the search for a compromise continues and a final decision will be reached by the end of this week. He said that there was little chance of any match taking place in Moscow on June 2, if Maskaev and Peter do not change their positions.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 03, 2007
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