04-18-2005, 04:33 PM
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Fight delayed until at least September By Dan Rafael ESPN.com
Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko will undergo back surgery on Wednesday, forcing his already twice-postponed mandatory defense against former champ Hasim Rahman to be delayed until at least September, both camps told ESPN.com on Sunday night.
Klitschko and Rahman originally planned to meet April 30 until Klitschko suffered an upper thigh injury last month while jogging in preparation for the fight. That delayed the bout until June 18. Then it was pushed back to July 23 to give him more time to heal.
Now comes this latest setback.
"It's something to do with his back that is causing a problem with a nerve in his leg," adviser Shelly Finkel said. "Wednesday they're going to do a procedure that should alleviate it. He'll probably fight in September or October, but we hope September. According to Vitali, it's an in-and-out procedure."
The problem is bad enough to keep Klitschko, who lives in Los Angeles, from traveling to Germany for his younger brother Wladimir's fight against Elieso Castillo on Saturday night. The Klitschko brothers work in each other's corner and it is highly unusual for them to miss a fight.
Finkel said that Klitschko was being cautious because he didn't want the long plane trip from Los Angeles to Germany to exacerbate the problem.
"He's upset he's not going to be at his brother's fight," Finkel said.
It is possible that the WBC will allow Rahman to fight for an interim title while Klitschko recovers. That would most likely be against Monte Barrett, who is the mandatory for the Klitschko-Rahman winner. Klitschko would then be mandated to face the winner when he is able to fight.
"If the WBC calls for the interim championship, we will accept fighting for it," said Steve Nelson, Rahman's co-manager.
Nelson said Rahman (40-5-1, 33 KOs) had a "mixed reaction" to the news that the fight with Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) was going to be delayed again.
"There was some disappointment because he loved the idea of fighting Vitali Klitschko and felt confident about the fight, and he was prepared to fight him," Nelson said. "At the same time, he looks at it as an opportunity to get the interim championship and he is confident in his ability to win it, and when Klitschko is ready he will be ready to fight him." Klitschko made his first defense on Dec. 11, knocking out Danny Williams in the eighth round. Rahman climbed his way back into title contention with five wins last year, by far the most active year of any of the top heavyweights. He punctuated his year with a fourth-round knockout of Kali Meehan in December.
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