WBC heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko, unable to come to terms for a fight against Nikolai Valuev, will instead make his fourth title defense against Poland's Albert Sosnowski on May 29 in Germany. If you've never heard of Sosnowski, you're not alone. The good news: the 31-year-old is a legitimate heavyweight at 6-2 1/2, 230 pounds and has an impressive record of 45-2-1 with 27 KOs. The bad news: that record was compiled against weak competition. Very weak.

Sosnowski's best wins were a six-round majority decision over a 39-year-old Orlin Norris in 2005, an eighth-round TKO of Danny Williams in 2008, and a 12-round unanimous decision over Paolo Vidoz in 2009. The losses came against Arthur Cook (KO 9 in 2001) and Zuri Lawrence (L 8 in 2008), and the draw was against Francesco Pianeta (2009).

Bottom line: Sosnowski was available and significantly cheaper, at $1 million, than Valuev's $4 million asking price, so he gets the title shot. Just don't expect a competitive fight . . .

Vitali Klitschko Selects Next Opponent originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 13:34:56.

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WBC light welterweight champ Devon Alexander added the IBF light welterweight belt to his collection when he became the first boxer to stop granite-chinned Juan Urango. Slick boxing and an active jab gave the 23-year-old Alexander a one point lead on two of the three judges' scorecards going into the eighth round. Urango, however, had begun to land right hooks on Alexander and the momentum seemed to be shifting slightly towards the powerful Colombian.

In round eight, Alexander landed as good a right uppercut as you'll ever see and dropped Urango on his back. Urango beat the count but was dropped again by a right to the side of the head and a glancing right uppercut. Once again, Urango beat the count but wasn't on steady legs and referee Benji Esteves elected to stop the fight.

The 29-year-old Urango, who was outpointed by Ricky Hatton and Andre Berto in his only two previous losses, drops to 22-3-1.

Alexander goes to 20-0 and is clearly a rising star in the sport. The talent pool in the light welterweight division is deep so hopefully Alexander's next bout is another unification fight with either Amir Khan (WBA champ), Marcos Maidana (another WBA champ, don't ask) or Timothy Bradley (WBO champ).

Devon Alexander Stops Juan Urango in 8 originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 09:56:52.

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Mike Tyson Comeback? originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 19:07:23.

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Manny Pacquiao puts his pound-for-pound title on the line against Joshua Clottey on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

No one seems to be giving Clottey any chance of winning the fight but he's a strong, natural welterweight with a solid defense and a sturdy chin. Pacman's speed and unorthodox storming style is likely to give Clottey trouble but he's anything but a pushover. Pacquiao needs to be 100% focused on this fight and not allow himself to be distracted by thoughts of a potential megabout with Floyd Mayweather Jr..

Expect this fight to go into the late rounds with Pacquiao either scoring a late TKO or winning by decision ... as long as he doesn't make the mistake of looking past Clottey.

Who do you think will win? Pacquiao or Clottey? Vote in our poll.

Manny Pacquiao: Fight-by-Fight Career Record

Joshua Clottey: Fight-by-Fight Career Record

Poll: Pacquiao vs. Clottey. Who Will Win? originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 16:56:22.

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After an absence of over 30 years, boxing may be returning to Yankee Stadium. On Sept. 28, 1976, Muhammad Ali retained the heavyweight title with a narrow 15 round decision over Ken Norton at the "old" Yankee Stadium.

Now there's a good possibility Yuri Foreman will defend his WBA junior middleweight title against Miguel Cotto at the "new" Yankee Stadium on June 5. In order to clear the date for the fight, the Yankees had to accommodate a family that had previously scheduled a bar mitvah at the stadium for that same date. If a deal can't be made to fight at Yankee Stadium, the bout may take place at Madison Square Garden on June 12.

Boxing Returning to Yankee Stadium? originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 13:58:11.

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Candi Holyfield, the third wife of Evander Holyfield recently received a temporary restraining order against the future Hall of Famer (if he ever retires) after claiming he hit her several times. The late night dispute reportedly started when she refused to show him check stubs of her donations to their church. The protective order has now been dropped but - between stories like this one, links to steroids and human growth hormone, and missing support payments to several of his many (at least 11!) children while continuing to live in a mansion facing foreclosure - it's getting increasingly difficult to root for the 47-year-old former champ.

Another former champ, Oliver McCall, was scheduled to fight against Zuri Lawrence last night in Florida. The bout, however, had to be called off after McCall was arrested on cocaine possession charges on Saturday night. McCall has had previous issues with drugs during his long career but this arrest (he's also charged with probation violation for a previous offense) may spell the end of the line for the troubled 44-year-old.

Former Heavyweight Champs in Trouble originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 14:35:20.

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