Wladimir Klitschko To Return…Or Are We Being April FOOLED?

MONDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: I heard back from longtime Team Klitschko fixture, Bernd Bonte.

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I first had to check that we weren’t being fooled by an April Fools prank…

Wladimir Klitschko is planning a ring return. So “they” say…

Wlad turned 43 on March 25, and left the ring life after losing to Anthony Joshua in April 2017. That was his second loss in a row; Wlad, born in Kazahkstan, had his lengthy run as the heavyweight bossman ended by Tyson Fury in November 2015.

There’ve been rumors for about six months that the hitter, the younger brother of another ace heavyweight, Vitali, who is knee-deep in the Kiev political scene now, would be un-retiring.

He signed a three fight deal with the streaming giant DAZN, it has been reported. His first fight would come May 25, for TBD. One could assume that DAZN is thinking Wlad versus Anthony Joshua, signed to Matchroom and under the DAZN tent, would be interesting to fight watchers.

The heavyweight scene is fragmented, with Tyson Fury in the Top Rank fold, Deontay Wilder in camp with PBC and doing his next fight on Showtime. Wlad’s presence, if he would be able to stay and hang and hasn’t been too diminished by age and time off, would give another option for the Joshua team in case terms aren’t hashed out for a fight with Deontay Wilder. Of course, the challenge of Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller first has to be addressed; AJ meets meets at Madison Square Garden, and on DAZN, June 1.

Now, are we getting ahead of ourselves? Someone at DAZN hadn’t heard that this is a done deal. One would figure they would have. Nothing on Wlad’s IG, either. An email to team Klitschko mainstay Bernd Bonte as of yet hasn’t been returned.

So…maybe we wait for Wlad himself to either yell “April Fools” or react fully when he declares the reports are not a prank. Publication SportArena reported the “news” and check out below what the home page on their website says now….Yes, perhaps to wait a bit more and see if this is real news.

Fighting…or fooling? Is Wladimir Klitschko un-retiring after two years away from the ring?

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