blackrican23 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has suffered a torn left biceps, forcing him on Monday to postpone his mandatory defense against Kubrat Pulev that was scheduled for Sept. 6 at the O2 World arena in Hamburg, Germany.Klitschko suffered the injury on Friday during a sparring session. "He had problems on Friday, and he first thought it's a minor thing, but he went to the hospital near the camp [in Austria], and there they detected this torn muscle," Bernd Boente, Klitschko's manager, told ESPN.com. "He was in top shape and he had perfect sparring partners. He did a long preparation and is sorry to have to postpone the fight."Said Klitschko in a statement: "I am very disappointed that the fight cannot take place as planned. I am in absolute top form and had a great training camp. Of course, I'm sorry for the fans, but also for my opponent Kubrat Pulev, who was certainly training as intensely as I do."Dr. Robert Siorpaes diagnosed the injury and recommended that Klitschko suspend training for about four weeks.Boente said the fight will be rescheduled for November and likely still take place at the O2 World, which was already sold out -- around 15,000 tickets -- for the Sept. 6 fight."We hope to reschedule the bout in the same arena in mid-November, probably Nov. 15," Boente said. "But that is something we have to discuss with the arena and RTL [the German television network that has a contract to carry Klitschko's fights]. We also have to talk to the IBF because this fight is a mandatory."Of course, we are all disappointed, but these things can happen during the preparation."Klitschko (62-3, 53 KOs), 38, of Ukraine, is bidding for a 17th title defense. His 16 successful defenses during his second title reign are the third-most in heavyweight history behind those of only Joe Louis (25) and Larry Holmes (20), and his eight-year-plus reign is second all time to Louis' record 11 years, 8 months, 8 days.Klitschko, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist, moved to 23-2 overall in world title fights with a one-sided, fifth-round knockout of Australia's Alex Leapai, a mandatory challenger, on April 26 in Oberhausen, Germany.Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs), 33, of Bulgaria, a former European champion, earned his mandatory challenger status in August 2013 with a unanimous decision against American Tony Thompson, who had twice been knocked out by Klitschko in mandatory title fights.Since becoming the mandatory challenger, Pulev, known as "The Cobra," has fought twice. He scored a fourth-round knockout of Joey Abell, who knocked him down, in December, followed by a third-round knockout of Ivica Perkovic on April 5. http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/11405849/wladimir-klitschko-torn-biceps-postpones-fight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CruiserWeight Posted August 26, 2014 Members Share Posted August 26, 2014 It happens. Hope he heals up well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRIM Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Sucks, but it was going to be a boring fight anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mofo2 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 All the the 'Holding Sparring Sessions' must have really been tough on his body.....he holds for at least 2 miutes 10 of every round to get him nearer to his 2.30 that he pulls off in a fight.....I guess he tried to Cram some extra sessions in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WBF OG Neil_ Posted August 26, 2014 WBF OG Share Posted August 26, 2014 obvious roid injury Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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