Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/628647
22 Deontay Wilder has en- tered negotiations to fight mandatory challenger alexander Povetkin, the WBC has confirmed. WBC world heavy- weight champion Wilder (36-0-Ko35) defended his belt against artur Szpilka in new york on Saturday night via ninth-round stoppage. next up for the 30-year- old american looks to be Russia's Povetkin (30-1- Ko22), who was last in action in november when he stopped Mariusz Wach in the final round to ce- ment his mandatory sta- tus. In an interview report- ed on boxingscene.com, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said: "the next fight will absolutely see Wilder against the man- datory challenger, alex- ander Povetkin. "Right now, there is a negotiating process in which the parties have 30 days [to reach a deal]. I think the fight will take place in May or June." the location of the bout is a point of interest, with Povetkin hopeful of securing home advan- tage while Wilder claims: "Rus- sia is too cold." Povetkin, 36, is a former WBa world heavyweight champion but lost his belt when he suffered his only career defeat - on points to Wladimir Klitschko in Mos- cow in october 2013. maltatoday, Wednesday, 20 January 2016 Sport athletics boxing iaaF scandal worse than football's crisis, says Michael Johnson the corruption scandal that has rocked athletics is worse than the one that has plunged football body FIFa into crisis because it punished clean ath- letes, four-times olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson said yesterday. "With athletics, if you think about the victims, it is absolute- ly worse," the 400 metres world record holder told BBC radio. "the victims here are those (clean) athletes. they never had the opportunity to stand on the podium and they should have," added the american sprinter. an independent commission of the World anti-Doping agency (WaDa) has stated in a damn- ing report that "corruption was embedded" at the International association of athletics Federa- tions (IaaF). the report found that a clique run by former IaaF president Lamine Diack covered up or- ganised doping and blackmailed athletes while senior officials looked the other way. Diack is under formal investi- gation in France on suspicion of corruption and money-launder- ing linked to the concealment of positive drug tests in concert with Russian officials. FIFa is facing the worst crisis in it history as a total of 41 in- dividuals and entities have been charged with corruption-related offences in the United States. FIFa also faces a parallel Swiss probe. Sepp Blatter, the football body's long-serving head, has been banned for eight years. Johnson said the IaaF, now led by Britain's Sebastian Coe, needed to be "completely re- structured" but saw little mer- it in a suggestion that world records should be reset as a way of moving on from the crisis. "It doesn't make sense to me how a reset of all the world records is going to deal with the issue of people cheating," said Johnson. "It doesn't create a clean com- petition and that does not deter anyone from cheating." the american also questioned whether Russia's ban from all competitions as a result of state- sponsored doping should extend to this year's Rio olympics. "Do you ban an entire country that ostensibly could include clean athletes, from participat- ing in Rio? that is a very diffi- cult decision to make," he said. U.S. Sprinter Michael Johnson Wilder-Povetkin talks begin Deontay Wilder is set to take on Alexander Povetkin next Nobody hits harder - Haye DavID haye claims he's the fast- est and hardest-hitting heav y- weight in the world after knock- ing out Mark de Mori in the first round of his comeback fight. the former WBa world cham- pion made an emphatic return at the o2 on Saturday night after three-and-a-half years out of the ring - ruthlessly knocking out the australian in just over two minutes with a huge right hand and accompanying combina- tion. With lucrative bouts against the likes of domestic rival an- thony Joshua beckoning plus the long-term goal of regaining a world heav y weight title, haye is enthusiastic over his future. he told Sky Sports: "I don't believe any heav y weight in the world could have taken the com- bination Mark de Mori took and stayed on their feet. I believe I'm the fastest heav y weight on the planet and the hardest hitting. "as soon as I start landing, people get knocked out. In an ideal world, the fans get a few more rounds but you can't com- plain. Mike tyson made a career of knocking people out in the first round. "It was amazing. exactly what I needed. I wanted to come back and show that I'm not a thing of the past. I proved just that and all the questions were answered in front of a full house at the o2. "I wasn't expecting it to be full. It's mid-January and most box- ing promoters don't even bother looking at a date this month be- cause it's so soon after Christ- mas. I wanted the soonest date even after I was told ticket sales would be affected." on his next move, haye said: "I'm just enjoying the aftermath of victory and the right oppor- tunity will present itself. World titles can change hands multiple times in a six-month period. "I'm not too fussed about call- ing anyone out but people are coming up to me in the street and asking me when I'm going to fight Joshua. they are fans of sport in general and say we're the only two they've seen in the newspapers. We are the heav y- weights they know. "I think eddie [hearn] said he's going to focus on a world title, which is fair enough, but public demand normally dictates the big fights. If he wanted to fight next, I'll fight him next. I can get back in the ring whenever - I'm in good shape. I'll probably take a week or 10 days off and then start training again."