Fighting in New York City isn’t something new for Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Defending his title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn is.
Klitschko has signed a deal to defend his title on April 25th in Brooklyn, New York.
“The fight will be at the Barclays Center and we are very, very pleased,” Bernd Boente, Klitschko’s manager, told ESPN.com. “The contract is not signed yet but we have a handshake deal and we are getting everything finalized. It’s a really good deal for both sides. We are all looking forward to a big event.”
Klitschko has fought at MSG in the past and a switch in venue says a lot about the landscape of boxing in NYC.
“The Barclays offer was better (than Madison Square Garden’s),” Boente said. “We really like the people at the Garden. I really like Joel Fisher (executive vice president of MSG Sports). We had fights with Wladimir and (older brother) Vitali there, but the overall cooperation is better with Barclays. They are putting huge marketing money into this and that is important.”
According to ESPN.com‘s Dan Rafael Klitschko is in talks to fight undefeated Philadelphia boxer Bryant Jennings and the deal is expected to be wrapped in the next couple of weeks.
Thats too bad, I’m sure fans in NYC would love to see a fight between Klitschko and his arch nemesis Shannon Briggs. It wouldn’t be very compelling in the ring (honestly what Klitschko fight is?) but the build up for the fight would be amazing.