HOLLYWOOD, FL, December 27 – There will be no New Year’s Eve parties for WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov. Instead, he will be preparing for a bigger prize as he gets ready to drop bombs on Wladimir Klitschko in their highly-anticipated heavyweight title unification bout on February 23rd at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“Anything worth having requires sacrifices,” said the unbeaten Ibragimov, who has just opened up his training camp in Florida. “Ever since I began fighting, I wanted to become a world champion, and I achieved that goal in 2007. Now my goal is to become the unified heavyweight champion and I will have my opportunity on February 23rd. The work is hard, but I know the reward will be worth it..”
Klitschko and Ibragimov, a 12 round heavyweight title unification bout, headlines a historic night of boxing presented by K2 Promotions and Seminole Warriors Boxing and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing. Tickets are on sale now.
A native of Dagestan who represented Russia and won a Silver medal in the 2000 Olympic Games, Ibragimov (22-0-1, 17 KOs) has continued his success in the pro game, winning the WBO world heavyweight title from Shannon Briggs in June of 2007 and defending it for the first time in October with a unanimous decision victory over Evander Holyfield. Now he pursues the toughest challenge of all in IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko.
“Klitschko is a formidable opponent and I respect him,” said Ibragimov. “But I feel better than ever, I’m excited to be in training camp and preparing for the unification bout on February 23rd.”