By Patrick Johnston
London - World heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko will fight Ruslan Chagaev in Germany on June 20 after Briton David Haye was forced to pull out injured.
"It is sad that David cannot compete," Klitschko, the IBF, IBO and WBO champion said in a statement.
"However, I am looking into the future and forward to fighting against Ruslan. He is WBA champion, very experienced and a tough challenger."
Haye had to drop out of the scheduled fight against Klitschko due to a back injury.
The Briton had hoped to put the fight back three weeks but with about 50 000 tickets already sold at the 60 000-seater Schalke 04 soccer stadium in Gelsenkirchen, organisers were eager to find a replacement and keep the same date.
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Undefeated Uzbek Chagaev is the WBA champion-in-recess. He had been due to fight Russian Nikolai Valuev in Finland for the WBA title on May 30 but the fight was called off.
"Last week my fight against Valuev was cancelled," Chagaev said in a statement. "Now I am fighting against Vladimir Klitschko in front of 60 000 spectators
"I am looking forward to the arena in Schalke, the crowd as well as Klitschko's three belts which I will take home with me." - Reuters
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