I assume Chagaev got the call because his hight etc fitted in with Wlad's training for Haye, whereas Valuev poses completely different problems. Was Valuev offered any sort of deal for 20th June?
yes apparently so, he said he had been training for a southpaw......... didnt want to fight the biggest fight of his career, in front of 60,000 make sense of that
I don't even blame Valuev for not taking the fight, I blame Don King. He wants Valuev to fight Ruiz, again. :-(
Wilfried Sauerland publicly declared they were offered the fight on June 20th but Valuev had prepared for a southpaw so it was out of question. I don't blame him, I would do the same if I was Nicolay's promoter: Valuev will make more money by fighting mandatories Kali Meehan and John Ruiz. Less risk, higher reward. I don't understand why a lot of people seem to believe that promoters' job is to give boxing fans what they want to see.
Don King plays his cards too well... Chagaev would've beat Valuev at least on our scorecards, bringing it to Finland was the only way to get out of the fight (it would've happened in Germany), also, Niko would've lost by schooling or even TKO vs. Wladimir. Now Wlad will most likely beat the only man who beat Valuev, and Niko will end up being the 'sole' WBA HW champ. Even if the WBA will sanction Wlad-Ruslan, which I doubt, Don King will make it sure K2 will never get near a purse bid. What King and Sauerland pulled in Finland is criminal and utterly disgraceful to our sport.
