Bonte on Chagaev's *hepatitis*

Yep. As I said, Chagaev has had it since 2007, he found out when he was to fight Sultan Ibragimov after beating Valuev to unify the WBA & WBO belts. But he got it under control and was always cleared to fight in Germany.

Now the Valuev-Chagaev fight should of happened in Germany, as both guys are based there and fight their normally. However King knew that Valuev was in trouble against Chagaev, and also knew that if he scheduled the bout elsewhere, Chagaev would fail his Hep B med and not be allowed to fight.

Alas, he tried everything in his power to win the purse bid, he did so and scheduled the fight over in Finland. Surpirse surpirse, Chagaev fails his medical, and Valuev gets to keep his belt while looking innocent, because it looks from an outsider point of view that Chagaev merely had an injury.

 

well if thats true, thats ****ed up man

 

Plus Valuev said no to taking on Wald saying he had trained for Chagaev. Well, Wald has trained for Haye. Who has to make the bigger adjustment?

Props to Chagaev and Wald for making this fight happen. Each takes a risk by not getting to prepare for a specific opponent but the fans who hold fight tickets, airline tickets, hotel reservations and vacation time are not left out in the cold. :happy It might not be their first choice, especially for the Brits going over but it is still good for them.

 

Exactly.. I think this will be a memorable fight... Just like when Lennox Lewis was supposed to fight kirk Johnson.... and Johnson got injured 2 weeks before... and remember Klitschko stepped in.... And it was one of the best hw fights of the decade!!!

 

You are totally incorrect. The fight was scrapped by the Finnish authorities, not Valuev. The Finnish authorities gave Chagaev the option of fighting if Universum, Chagaev's promoter, bought insurance protecting all other parties from liability, but Universum balked.

The cancellation was not Valuev's fault at all.

 

I agree with you completely. It is extremely impressive that Vlad is taking Chagaev on such short notice. Klitschko clearly has supreme confidence in his abilities, and he is willing to fight anyone.

I am shocked that so many dumb boxing fans believe Klitschko is a protected fighter. Quite the opposite is true.

 

This doesn't sound right. They have a health concern but will let it go on if they are taken off the hook with insurance? You have a link? I thought Valuev said he wasn't willing to risk his health over this....

 

CHAGAEV/KLITSCHKO should be considered the TRUE WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO unification bout! Valuev needs to be stripped and tossed to the wayside! Period!

 

Unless it has changed, it is a three shot series over a matter of months. At least it was when I got it.

 

That's not what Willie Sauerland is saying. See what I've highlighted in bold below. Either way, it looks like the Finnish authorities would not let the bout proceed. Check the link for the full interview.
http://blog.thesweetscience.com/2009/06/03/sauerland-feels-sorry-for-valuev

Q: How did the cancellation happen?
WS: The Finnish Federation requested an additional test because Chagaev´s hepatitis test had shown some positive values. At first, Universum refused, and when the Finnish Federation considered a cancellation, Universum informed them that they had ordered a test in Helsinki. Then all the parties involved agreed to let the fight happen if the test was negative like the attestation from Germany. After many delays the test was handed over by Universum on Friday evening, with the result being a low, yet not totally excludable danger of infection. Subsequently, the Finnish Federation called the bout off.

Q: Was there no chance to save the fight?
WS: There was the proposal of Nikolai getting an injection within 24 hours after the fight and then again another one four weeks later. Nikolai asked for some time to think about it and wanted to speak to his doctor, who was on his way from Russia, first. However, that did not happen because the Finnish Federation informed us they would not let a fighter in the ring who suffers from Hepatitis B illness and presents a danger of infection, no matter how low.

Q: There are experts who claim that the danger of infection is as good as zero.
WS: There is a big difference between “as good as zero” and zero. During the meetings in Helsinki I offered Chagaev´s doctor and Universum to stage the fight if they confirmed in writing an acceptance of risk (underwriting). They refused.

 

I hear that, i was gutted when the original fight got shelved as i had paid for Tix/flights/hotels, but Chagaev has stepped up and saved the day so fair play to him.:good

It won't be as exciting as Haye/Klitschko but it will have more meaning as Chagaev is WBA champ in my eyes and it's turning out to be a massive Unification fight, Haye can fight Arreola or some other contender and get some more experince before taking on Wlad next year in a real Heavyweight showdown.