Ruslan Chagaev, who holds a secondary heavyweight title to top champion Wladimir Klitschko, will go through with his planned first defense against Germany-based Italian Francesco Pianeta -- who was knocked out in the sixth round by Klitschko in a one-sided fight in 2013 -- on July 11 at the GETEC Arena in Magdeburg thanks to a recent settlement of a lawsuit with Fres Oquendo.
On July 6, Oquendo traveled to Grozny, Russia, on short notice and lost a majority decision to Chagaev in a bout for the WBA's "regular" title. Oquendo had the right to an immediate rematch in his contract and pressed for it.
When the Chagaev camp declined and arranged the fight with Pianeta, Oquendo's co-promoters, Square Ring and Hitz Boxing, secured an injunction in New York federal court preventing him from participating in a WBA title bout. But Chagaev promoter Terek Box Event planned to go ahead with the fight anyway until Oquendo's camp put intense pressure on the WBA.
In the end, the sides reached a settlement with the help of Russian promoter Andrey Ryabinsky that will allow Chagaev (33-2-1, 20 KOs), a native of Uzbekistan living in Germany, to defend against Pianeta (31-1-1, 17 KOs) with the winner obligated to give Chicago's Oquendo (37-8, 24 KOs) the next fight within 120 days.
Chagaev is now focused on facing Pianeta.
"I am looking forward to finally getting back into the ring. After almost a year break, I'm hungry and want to show my fans what I can do," he said. "I'm sorry for Francesco Pianeta that he's facing me precisely at this stage in my career. He doesn't stand a chance. He won't know what hit him."
It will be Chagaev's first fight since the death of trainer Fritz Sdunek. He is now training with former Cuban national coach Pedro Diaz.
"I still can't believe that Fritz is no longer with us," said Chagaev, who spent part of his camp training in Miami. "His passing was a shock for the whole boxing world and especially for me and my whole team. It still hurts. We miss him a lot. But his spirit will be with us in the gym forever. Pedro is an extraordinary coach. He knows everything about this sport. Even at my age [36], I learned some new tricks and moves from him."