14.07.04 – For Alexander “Sascha” Dimitrenko a dream was coming true: The opponent of the 22 year old heavyweight fighter from the Universum boxing stable for his fight on the July 31 show in Stuttgart is somebody well known in Germany and highly respected in boxing gyms around the world: Experienced and seasoned American Ross Puritty (37).
“I wanted him as opponent and now I’m happy that my management could realize it”, Dimitrenko said. “Now I have the chance to show that I can box variable and that I can punch hard. I don’t like to be compared with the Klitschko brothers. But everbody else compares us. That’s why I enjoy the idea to face the man who defeated Wladimir and lost to Vitali. Puritty fought against the best. Now it’s time to show my talent to all boxing experts. This is going to be a difficult fight. It’s the best test I can get.”).
In fact, it will be Dimitrenko’s first test for world class level.
“Sascha has never fought a man of Puritty’s class so far”, coach Fritz Sdunek said who worked with each Klitschko at the time they fought Puritty. “He is a real smart guy. He knows every trick and uses it. He waits, let’s the other guy look bad, wears him down, then all of a sudden he throws mean punches. His size and his punching power makes him always dangerous.”
Nobody knows better than Wladimir Klitschko who suffered his first defeat to Puritty on December 5, 1998. Completely exhausted by round eleven his coach Sdunek saved Wladimir from being knocked down again and threw in the towel. Even Vitali Klitschko had problems getting to Puritty three years later and needed eleven high paced rounds until the fight was eventually stopped due to face injury’s suffered by Puritty.
Like Corrie Sanders, Puritty has become more dangerous with advanced aged. In his 30 wins, he has scored 27 knockouts, two of them in his last two fights. From his 17 losses and three draws, some came against Chris Byrd, Larry Donald, Corrie Sanders, Hasim Rahman and Tommy Morrison.
Alexander Dimitrenko, called “Babyface”, has won all of his 14 contests and scored 10 knockouts. And he has a coach who believes in him. Fritz Sdunek: “Sascha is fighting Puritty being as old as Wladimir Klitschko was when he fought Puritty. I have trust in his preparation and in his strengths.”