World heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis has been forced in to an early and unexpected defence of his title against world number one ranked challenger Vitali Klitschko of the Ukraine following a freak injury to his scheduled opponent. Showtime will broadcast the fight live and exclusive in the Middle East on June 22.
Lewis was due to face Canadian Kirk Johnson as a warm-up fight prior to meeting Klitschko later in the year. Johnson, however, tore rib muscles in training last weekend which ruled him out of the fight.
Klitschko had been due to meet American Cedrick Boswell on the undercard and he jumped at the chance to face Lewis much earlier than scheduled, especially since the British world heavyweight champion has been out of the ring for a year since his mauling of Mike Tyson.
Despite being the WBC's mandatory challenger Klitschko had found the champion hard to pin down since Lewis initially pulled out of a proposed meeting in January.
Lewis remains confident of a convincing victory. He told his personal website, www.lennoxlewis.com: "Vitali Klitschko has an impressive record but he has never seen a boxer like me. He'll wish he had never asked for this challenge. I cannot see this going the distance."
Lewis' trainer Emanuel Steward was even more emphatic in his dismissal of Klitschko's chances of causing an upset.
He added: "There is no way Klitschko will last more than five rounds with a man of Lennox's abilities. Lennox has always fared well with big guys such as Henry Akinwande, Andrew Golota and Michael Grant. Look what happened to them."
Klitschko, who will challenge for Lewis' WBC and IBO titles, said: "It has been a life-long dream of mine to fight Lewis. I am very excited about this opportunity. It is going to be a great fight."
Klitschko and his brother Wladimir have both held the WBO title. At 6ft 7ins, 31-year-old Vitali has won 30 of his 32 fights by stoppage and the only blot on his record is a WBO title defeat to Chris Byrd in April 2000, when he was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury.
Klitschko had won the title with June 1999 second round flattening of Herbie Hide at the London Arena.
The Lewis-Klitschko fight is a Pay Per View event for television viewers in the Middle East. It will be available as a Home Cinema Plus event on the Showtime network. All Showtime subscribers may purchase the event for $24 up to Midnight on Friday, June 20 after which the price is $32.
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For more information please contact:
Andrew Bone, PR manager W: +971.4.808.8026 Showtime
E: abone@showtimeuae.com
Azza El-Sonbaty, PR Co-ordinator W: +971.4.808.8092
Showtime E: asonbaty@showtimeuae.com
Moustafa Al Hamwi, PR consultant W: +971.4.311.7172
Manning, Selvage & Lee, Dubai M: +971.50.775.1833
E: Moustafa.alhamwi@dubai.mslpr.com
© Press Release 2003
