Alex Leapai defeated
Denis Boytsov on 23 November 2013 in
Germany. Boytsov was the WBO's
mandatory challenger for Wladimir Klitschko, but when Leapai defeated Boytsov, Leapai was named mandatory challenger even though the Boytsov-Leapai bout was not an official elimination bout. Dan Rafael for ESPN.com reported on 3 February 2014 that "Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will make his 16th title defense when he faces Alex Leapai, one of his mandatory challengers, on 26 April in at the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, as K2 Promotions announced Monday. The Klitschko and Leapai camps had agreed to a deal several weeks ago, which allowed them to avoid a purse bid, but it has now been signed. Leapai (30–4–3, 24 KOs), 34, a native of Samoa living in Australia, came out of nowhere to be appointed as the mandatory challenger by the WBO after scoring a major upset."
Leapai vs. Wladimir Klitschko Despite the fact that Klitschko possessed an overwhelming advantage over his challenger, the Ukrainian was quoted as saying the bout was "the most important fight of my career" due to the political backdrop of the encounter from a Ukrainian point of view. Early in 2014
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and consequently, both nations were mobilising for the possibility of war in the short term. Wladimir's brother
Vitali Klitschko was preparing to run for the
Ukrainian presidency in looming
May elections and the 37-year-old title holder admitted boxing was second in his mind to the political upheaval in his homeland. Klitschko claimed the spectacle of the fight would be ever important to "boost the morale" of his countrymen. Former world heavyweight champion
Shannon Briggs interrupted a pre-fight press conference in Germany just days before the anticipated bout. Briggs challenged Klitschko for a fight and accused Leapai of being an unworthy opponent for Klitschko. Leapai was knocked down barely more than a minute into the bout. Leapai reportedly rattled his opponent once in the fight before Klitschko responded with a flurry of blows that eventually dropped the Australian to the canvas. On two weeks notice, Alex Leapai took a fight against former
WBO champion
Joseph Parker after his deal with
Eric Molina fell through during the signing stages. Leapai went on to lose after a tenth-round stoppage. Despite protests from Leapai, the referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the fight after Parker landed seven straight punches to the head of his opponent. ==Personal life==