WBC Heavyweight World Champion Vitali Klitschko will defend his
title against Juan Carlos Gomez of Cuba on March 21 in Germany's
Stuttgart, the FightNews website said. The title bout is being
organized by the Klitchko brothers' PR company K2 Promotions with the
Cuban being offered $1.2 million for the fight.
Both fighters
seem to be confident of victory with Gomez pitying the Ukrainian saying
he will not enjoy his champion's belt for much longer.
"I'm
sorry for Vitali... he has to lose his title after such a short reign.
But I worked long and hard to get this shot and I will win the world
championship," the website quoted Gomez as saying.
Klitschko
said that he respected his opponent and is not underestimating him, but
the champion's belt belongs to his family.
"I won't let anybody
take it away from me. Gomez is a very experienced, quick and dangerous
opponent... But the belt will stay in the Klitschko family," he said.
Vitali Dr. Ironfist Klitschko (36-2, 35 KOs), hung up his gloves in
November 2005 due to a knee injury, but announced his comeback last
year. He regained his WBC belt in October last year in Germany when he
beat Samuel Peter, dubbed the Nigerian Nightmare.
The
Ukrainian earlier said that the bout with Gomez (44-1, 35 KOs) was of
little importance to him, and that he was fighting the Cuban because he
is the No.1 mandatory challenger.
Klitschko, 37, earlier
expressed an interest in fighting undisputed cruiseweight champion
David Haye of Britain, who allegedly insulted Vitali's younger brother
Wladimir, the current holder of the IBF and WBO heavyweight champion
titles.
