Duva makes a solid point

14/03/2007

Duva makes a solid point

Press Release: “One organization forced a true champion to fight a bum mandatory, and on the other side another organization is preventing their true mandatory from fighting the champion.” Dino Duva. Still embroiled in prolonged negotiations for his fighter Samuel Peter’s twice-earned shot at the WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev, Peter's promoter Dino Duva says Saturday was a good indication of the problems with today’s heavyweight division. “What’s going on right now in the heavyweight division is exactly what’s wrong with it. Saturday, you had a mandatory where the IBF forced Wladimir Klitschko to fight Ray Austin, who by the way didn’t win his last fight, and he turned out to be a dog,” said Duva of Klitschko’s two-round demolition. “And on the other side, you have the WBC trying to prevent a deserving mandatory challenger like Sam Peter from getting his title fight. This is what’s wrong with boxing. The two opposite ends of the spectrum. One organization forced a true champion to fight a bum mandatory, and on the other side another organization is preventing their true mandatory from fighting the champion.” Duva says that fiascos like Saturday’s non-fight and the WBC’s attempts to hijack Peter’s title shot (in favor of awarding retired ex-champion Vitali Klitschko the fight) are major symptoms of what is a big problem for the heavyweight division and boxing as a whole.