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Klitschko Hurt, Fight With Fury Postponed

It is part of the game, and that much more, oftentimes, when you are 39 1/2.
Wladimir Klitschko tore a tendon in his left calf while training and thus, is forced to postpone his match against colorful hitter Tyson Fury.
Shame, in that interest was heating up ahead of the Oct. 24 scrap, after Fury drew chuckles and buzz by dressing like Batman at the Monday presser.
Pullouts have occured before, confounding ticket buyers; David Haye withdrew before he and Wlad were to tangle in 2009; a defense against Eddie Chambers was delayed because of a hand issue, in 2010; a torn ab muscle on Wlad put off a Dereck Chisora fight, in 2011; a kidney stone put off his 2011 “fight” with Jean-Marc Mormeck; he’s been on a healthy streak since.
Fury took to Twitter for some chops-busting:
Well it’s official @Klitschko has pull out of the fight with an injury in his leg, it’s a bit funny as I predicted this would happen!!!
Then:
Don’t feel sorry for me I’ll b ok, I’m sorry for the fans again as they are the biggest losers hear. Flights & hotels travel, sorry guys.”
“I knew he couldn’t fight,” he said, in a public statement.
Here is a release which went out from Team Klitschko:
Here is a release which went out from Team Klitschko and the Fury promoter, Hennessey:
Hamburg, September 25, 2015: (C/O K2 Promotions) Due to a tendon tear in the left calf of the IBF/IBO and âThe Ring Magazineâ World Heavyweight Champion and WBA/WBO Superchampion Wladimir Klitschko, his championship fight against Tyson Fury will be postponed.
After sustaining the injury in his training session yesterday, Wladimir Klitschko promptly left his training camp to seek medical treatment from Dr. Hans-Wilhelm MĂŒller-Wohlfahrt, physician for the German national soccer team, who has diagnosed the injury.
“Especially after the exciting press conference last Wednesday, I was looking forward to this fight very much. I know that a lot of fans have already organized their trips to support me in DĂŒsseldorf. I am so sorry that I am not able to fight on October 24. I also apologize to my opponent, who has spent many weeks preparing for this fight. I will do my very best to recover as fast as possible,â said Wladimir Klitschko.
Klitschko will continue to seek medical treatment from Dr. MĂŒller-Wohlfahrt and the new date for the fight against Tyson Fury will be announced next week. The ESPRIT arena in DĂŒsseldorf will still be the venue.
“The clinical and MRI-examination showed a partial musculotendinous tear of the left calf. The boxing fight planned for October 24 (World Championship in the heavyweight division) should be postponed for an indefinite period of time. Due to this injury we strictly recommend ceasing athletic activity in the next weeks,â said Dr. MĂŒller-Wohlfahrt.
“Unfortunately, these situations are always possible in individual sports. We all know about the importance of this event for everyone involved, as well as for all boxing fans. Therefore, we are trying everything possible to postpone this fight to a nearby date at the ESPRIT arena in DĂŒsseldorf,â said Bernd Bönte, CEO of Klitschko Management Group.
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Canelo-Charlo Gets All the Ink, but Donât Overlook the Compelling Match-up of Gassiev-Wallin in Turkey

Canelo-Charlo Gets All the Ink, but Donât Overlook the Compelling Match-up of Gassiev-Wallin in Turkey
The eyes of the boxing world will be on Las Vegas this Saturday where Mexican superstar Saul âCaneloâ Alvarez risks his four super middleweight title belts against unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo. Earlier that day at a luxury resort hotel in the city of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, thereâs a heavyweight match sitting under the radar that may prove to be the better fight. Itâs an intriguing match-up between former world cruiserweight title-holder Murat Gassiev and Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin, a bout with significant ramifications for boxingâs glamour division.
Gassiev (30-1, 23 KOs) and Wallin (25-1, 14 KOs) have only one loss, but those setbacks came against the top dogs in the division. Gassiev was out-boxed by Oleksandr Usyk back in the days when both were cruiserweights. Wallin gave Tyson Fury a world of trouble before losing a unanimous decision.
Since those fights, both have been treading water.
Gassiev
Gassiev was inactive for 27 months after his match with Usyk while dealing with legal issues and an injury to his left shoulder. He is 4-0 (4 KOs) since returning to the ring while answering the bell for only eight rounds. The only recognizable name among those four victims is German gatekeeper Michael Wallisch. After stopping Wallisch, Gassiev was out of action for another 13 months while reportedly dealing with an arm injury.
A first-round knockout of Carlouse Welch, an obscure 40-something boxer from the U.S. state of Georgia on Aug. 26, 2022, in Belgrade, Serbia, was promoted as a title fight. The sanctioning body was the Eurasian Boxing Parliament (insert your own punchline here). Gassiev followed that up with a second-round knockout of former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun who came in undefeated and was seemingly a legitimate threat to him.
Although he has yet to fight a ranked opponent since leaving the cruiserweight division, Gassiev — a former stablemate of Gennady Golovkin who has been living in Big Bear, California, training under Abel Sanchez â is one of the most respected fighters in the division because he has one-punch knockout power as Balogun and others can well attest. The rub against the Russian-Armenian bruiser is that he is somewhat robotic.
Wallin
Otto Wallin, a 32-year-old southpaw from Sweden who trains in New York under former world lightweight champion Joey Gamache, fought Tyson Fury on Sept. 14, 2019 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. There was a general feeling that the Swede would be a stroll in the park for Fury, but to the contrary, he gave the Gypsy King a hard tussle while losing a unanimous decision.
Wallin is 5-0 since that night beginning with victories over Travis Kauffman (KO 5) and Dominic Breazeale (UD 12), but his last three opponents were softer than soft and all three lasted the distance. In order, Wallin won an 8-round decision over Kamil Sokolowski, who was 11-24-2 heading in, won a 10-round decision over ancient Rydell Booker, and won an 8-round decision over Helaman Olguin. His bout with Utah trial horse Olguin was at a banquet hall in Windham, New Hampshire.
It isnât that Wallin has been avoiding the top names in the division; itâs the other way around. His promoter Dmitriy Salita reportedly came close to getting Wallin a match with Anthony Joshua whose team had second thoughts about sending Joshua in against another southpaw after back-to-back setbacks to Oleksandr Usyk.
Gassiev vs Wallin is a true crossroads fight. Both are in dire need of a win over a credible opponent. At last look, Gassiev, who figures to have the crowd in his corner, was a 3/1 favorite.
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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.
Ukraineâs Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.
It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.
Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexicoâs Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainianâs fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.
Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.
Bustillo Wins Rematch
In the female main event Las Vegasâ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.
Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.
Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.
After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.
Other Bouts
In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorvilleâs Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexicoâs Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.
A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.
SoCalâs Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. Â There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.
It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklynâs Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.
Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jrâs promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.
Co-Feature
In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexicoâs Rodolfo Orozco. It wasnât a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.
Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and itâs understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonightâs fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 œ pounds. Mexicoâs Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.
Other Bouts of Note
The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladiesâ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.
The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicagoâs McCaskill.
In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin âAmmoâ Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.
Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing
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