"All or nothing": Bert Schenk to challenge for WBO world title

07.08 - Berlin - On September 13 Bert Schenk is facing the most important fight of his career. Four years after being a world champion for the last time the 32-year-old from Berlin wants to re enter the world championship throne and will fight in his hometown for the middleweight title of the WBO against reigning champion Hector Velazco.

"I'm fighting for all or nothing. In this fight I can finally display everything I can", the usually taciturn Schenk, 33-1 (21), said on today's press conference in Berlin. "I promise a victory. I watched a lot of fights of Velazco on video. He is somebody who is coming forward all the time. I will show how to avoid his punches and how to counter."

Coach Michael Timm is also confident about the chances of his charge who earned his new world title shot with nine consecutive knockout victories inside two years.

"We had the hardest preparation for Bert that he ever had in his career. He is in great shape", the Universum coach said.

The clash between Schenk and Velazco will take place at Berlin's Estrel Convention Center and will be main event of the evening, broadcast live in Germany by ZDF.

Originally popular light heavyweight contender Thomas Ulrich was scheduled to fight on the same card. But he had to undergo surgery on his left hand and his fight was postponed. Ulrich will be back this fall.

For Schenk the fight on September 13 will be his fourth world title fight. In January 1999 he captured the vacant belt of the World Boxing Organization against American Freeman Barr in Cottbus, Germany, and defended the belt successfully in May of 1999 in Budapest. An unlucky Achilles tendon injury sidelined him for many months and eventually forced him to vacate the WBO crown. In an ill prepared attempt to reclaim his title Schenk was defeated by his stable mate Armand Krajnc in July of 2000.

Since that time Bert Schenk regrouped, revived and fine tuned his boxing skills, and eventually managed to get into the best shape of his life which he proved with nine impressive consecutive knockout victories. The Geman is currently ranked WBO #1 and WBA #2.

For Hector Velazco, 29-2-1 (14), the fight against Schenk will be his first title defense. The 30-year-old Argentine captured the WBO belt in May in his hometown of Buenos Aires with an 8th round technical knockout over Andras Galfi.

Next Boxing.de Live Broadcast on August 30

Don't miss the next Webcam Live Event on Boxing.de on August 30 from the Olympic Arena of Munich. Dr. Wladimir Klitschko will celebrate his comeback that night against Fabio Moli. Boxing.de will broadcast the whole undercard via webcam and a snapshot of the ring in a 10 seconds rythm. The Boxing.de Broadcast will include a total of 7 fights and will last approximately 4 hours. During the live broadcast of ZDF Boxing.de will complete the German TV broadcast with a live punchstat on the internet.

Start Webcam Broadcast on August 30:
19:00 Deutschland, 1pm New York, 10am Los Angeles