ESPN Dan Rafael Blog

One very brief press release sent to media across the boxing world by German promoter Wilfried Sauerland and a couple of quotes in the Russian media on Wednesday set off a near frenzy with the supposed news that heavyweight titlist Nikolai Valuev, who is co-promoted by Sauerland, and fellow titleholder Vitali Klitschko had agreed to fight.

A few days earlier, Klitschko was freed from a nonsensical mandatory defense against Oleg Maskaev when he won a binding arbitration case against the WBC and Maskaev that allowed Klitschko to make an optional defense.

Valuev, meantime, had seen his May 30 defense against Ruslan Chagaev implode 24 hours before the fight because Chagaev had tested positive for hepatitis B and was ruled ineligible to fight by the Finnish commission, although he was allowed to fight three weeks later in Germany. Klitschko's baby brother, Wladimir Klitschko, smashed Chagaev to smithereens over 10 lopsided rounds in their heavyweight championship fight.

On the surface, the possibility of a Vitali Klitschko-Valuev unification fight made some sense. Then came the release that stoked the fire. "Please find attached two quotes regarding a potential fight between WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev and WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko," the release read.

And then there were the quotes.

One was attributed to Valuev: "It is true. We want to make it happen."

The other, to Sauerland: "I know of a phone conversation between Niko and Vitali. That is why I spoke to Vitali about a potential fight when I met him last weekend at Boris Becker's wedding. I will get in touch with Vitali in the next days."

Then came the reports out of Moscow, which fanned the flames. Russian media outlets quoted Valuev as saying, "I've talked to Vitali on the phone recently and we agreed to meet each other in a ring. As far as the dates, we're talking about the end of September or early October."

There's only one problem: It's not true.

Incensed by the Sauerland press release and Russian media reports, Klitschko manager Bernd Boente called me Wednesday from Germany to express his outrage and set the record straight.

"It's nonsense," Boente told me. "Sauerland is always doing the same thing, negotiating through the media. We have not talked to them. Valuev has called Vitali and asked him if he was interested in the fight, but he said there was no reason to negotiate with him because behind him it is Sauerland and Don King who make the decisions. Valuev can't make decisions.

"Anyway, we are at this moment not interested in Valuev because it is not financially interesting. The WBA title is of no interest to us because Wladimir beat the WBA champion [in recess, Chagaev], who beat Valuev. And because of that, there is no interest. And to deal with Sauerland and King is horrible. We are interested in other fights and names who would be more interesting to boxing fans and the media. We think fights with David Haye and Chris Arreola are way more interesting fights. We do not appreciate that Sauerland is trying to negotiate through the media. We are not interested. Vitali is not interested."

Boente said Valuev had his chance at a Klitschko. After Valuev-Chagaev II fell apart and then Haye backed out of his fight with Wladimir on three weeks' notice, Valuev was offered a chance to face Wladimir on June 20 and turned it down.

"He had his chance to fight Wladimir for the title and he showed he had no heart," Boente said.

Boente suggested that Valuev ought to make his mandatory defense against John Ruiz and "then we will see what is next."

Boente said he has been in touch with Haye trainer and manager Adam Booth about a possible fight with Vitali in the fall. Boente also said that Shelly Finkel, the American adviser to the Klitschko brothers, has talked to Arreola adviser Al Haymon.

Valuev attorney Pat English backed up Boente's claim that there is no deal for the fight.

"My understanding is that shortly after the Chagaev fiasco, Nicolai and Vitali spoke, originally on an entirely different topic. During the conversation, one said to the other that they would like to fight and the second agreed that it would be a good idea," English said. "As of now that is the extent of it. There is no deal."

English added that Valuev would like to fight Vitali in a unification match at some point, but "interest in a fight is far from a done deal."

Hope we're clear.