Sources close to the situation have just informed us that there's a strong possibility that the June 20th heavyweight world title unification between IBF & WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev will be televised on ESPN Classic.
Originally, Klitschko was set to face David Haye on HBO World Championship Boxing. After a back injury forced Haye to pull out of the June 20th date, he was quickly replaced by Chagaev, who had his own bout with Nikolai Valuev cancelled due to his own inability to meet the medical requirements of the Finnish Boxing Federation. It's rumored that Chagaev is infected with hepatits B. Although they were eager to air Klitschko's title defense against Haye, HBO opted not to broadcast the title unification with Chagaev.
If ESPN does indeed air the bout, it'll be the second time in three months that the network has aired a major heavyweight title bout. In March, ESPN Classic aired Vitali Klitschko's WBC title defense against Juan Carlos Gomez. Biran Kenny and Teddy Atlas called the action.
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