Wladimir Klitschko will fight against Monte Barrett in London (Press Release)

On July 15th European heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will fight at London Arena against American Monte"Two Guns" Barrett.

The 29-year-old Barrett won 23 of his 24 professional fights, 15 of them by knockout. His single loss came against his countryman Lance "Mount" Whitaker who he dropped a close decision to.

In his last fight on February 24 the 6-foot-3 man from Greenville, North Carolina, scored an impressive victory against the popular heavyweight from New Zealand Jimmy Thunder who he knocked out in round seven.

For the 24-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, 33-1 (31 KOs), it's his second consecutive fight on the undercard of WBC/IBF heavyweight world champion Lennox Lewis. This time Lewis will defend his titles against the former South African Francois Botha who became a US citizen in the meantime.

"I'm very happy that my promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl was able to arrange this fight", Wladimir Klitschko said. "Barrett is a strong opponent and since my fight on the undercard of Lewis-Botha will be televised worldwide once again I have the chance to make the name Klitschko and Universum Box-Promotion popular. A convincing victory should bring me very close to a world title shot against Lewis."

"But the fight on June 10 between Holyfield and John Ruiz is also extremely interesting for me. It's because they are fighting for the WBA title and I'm the number three contender. Many things are happening right now and I'm confident that I will fight for the world championship soon. Even my last critics will stop talking then!"

Last weekend Wladimir Klitschko was honored Boxer Of The Year by the European Boxing Union.