Vitali expected to draw 70 000
Approximately 70 000 spectators are expected to watch Vitali Klitschko fight Manuel Charr in Kyiv later this year.
Klitschko, the WBC heavyweight champion, is scheduled to defend his title against Charr at the city’s national sports complex on September 1.
Charr, who was born in Syria, now fights out of Cologne in Germany. He is unbeaten after 21 fights, of which he won 11 by knockout.
The 27-year-old, whose first names are Mahmoud Omeirat, has not fought any leading heavyweights. Owen Beck and Sherman Williams are about the best-known opponents he has faced.
But with Germany-based Klitschko returning to his hometown in Ukraine, the promoters are predicting that a crowd of up to 70 000 will assemble to watch their hero fight.
Klitschko’s professional record stands at 44-2, including 40 knockouts. His last fight was in February when he beat Dereck Chissora on points over 12 rounds in Munich.
Negotiations for several other notable title fights have been concluded. In one of them, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr will defend his WBC middleweight belt against Andy Lee of Ireland in El Paso, Texas, on June 6.
And Brian Magee is scheduled to challenge WBA super-middleweight champion Karoly Balzsay in Belfast on July 7 or 14.
Amir Khan and Danny Garcia will fight for the vacant WBC light-welterweight title in Las Vegas on July 14. Khan, from Bolton in England, has a record of 26-2; 18. Garcia’s stands at 23-0; 14.
‘THE MAN’ IN LAS VEGAS
Australia’s former two-time world champion Anthony Mundine is set to fight in Las Vegas on July 14.
Mundine, nicknamed The Man, will take a professional record of 43-4-0 into the ring against former WBO light-middleweight champion Bronco McKart, whose record stands at 54-9-1. They will meet over ten rounds.
On the same card, Dmitry Sukhotsky (18-1; 13) will fight Cornelius White (19-1) in a clash for the IBF international light-heavyweight title. Sukhotsky is rated No 1 by the WBO and No 5 by the IBF.
Former multiple-division champion Roy Jones will take on light-heavyweight Dawid Kostecki in Poland on June 30.
Glen Johnson, a former light-heavyweight champion is also still boxing for money. The 43-year-old, with a record of 55-16; 35, is set to meet 24-year-old Andrzej Fonfara (21-2; 12) in Chicago on July 13.
WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will fight WBO middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog in the United States on August 25. The venue has not been finalised.
Golovkin is undefeated after 23 fights (20 knockouts) and Pirog undefeated after 20 (15 knockouts).
On the same card, former WBO light-middleweight champion Sergey Dzinziruk (37-1; 23) will face Puerto Rican Jonathan Gonzalez (15-0; 13).
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (29-1-1; 18) is scheduled to meet Selcuk Aydin (23-0; 17) for the WBC interim welterweight belt in San Jose, California, on July 28.