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Brits to take on 'Beast from the East'

31/01/2006

The winner of the eagerly-anticipated battle of Britain between Danny Williams and Matt Skelton will be given a world title shot against giant WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev, promoter Frank Warren has suggested.

Williams will make the first defence of his Commonwealth crown against fellow Englishman Skelton at London's ExCel Arena on February 25th but the winner has been promised a shot at the big time.

And Warren's firm revealed today that talks are ongoing with promoters and the Valuev camp in an attempt to line him up as the prize for whoever turns out to be Britain's number one boxer.

A representative from Warren's Sports Network company confirmed: "Frank is in negotiations with Valuev's people. Hopefully the winner will get the chance to fight Valuev."

Valuev, at 7ft tall and weighing in at 24 stone, is the biggest heavyweight champion of all time and is unbeaten in 43 fights.

Nicknamed the Beast from the East, the 32-year-old Russian fighter beat John Ruiz on points to win the title last December but has somewhat surprisingly been criticised for lacking power and is seen by Warren as one of the more beatable current belt holders.

He is due to make the first defence of his title against American Owen Beck and providing he wins this will almost certainly be lined up for either Williams or Skelton later this year.

The other three division belt holders, all American, are Hasim Rahman, who won the WBC belt in August last year, Chris Byrd, who holds the IBF title and Lamon Brewster, the WBO champ.

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