Since beating Chris Byrd to win the WBO belt, Wladimir Klitschko had made five successful defences, all of which ended before the final round, and was ranked as the No.1 heavyweight contender by The Ring, WBC champion Lennox Lewis was the magazine's champion. After failing to reach agreements with Kirk Johnson, Fres Oquendo, Lou Savarese and Danny Williams, Universum Box Promotion ultimately signed a 4-fight contract with Corrie Sanders, who was ranked No.9 contender by the WBO at the time.

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