Universum light welterweight contender Andreas Kotelnik, currently #1 of the WBA rankings, will travel to Great Britain this coming weekend for the second time as the mandatory challenger. On March 22nd he will challenge the local hero and reigning WBA light welterweight champion Gavin Rees (27-0-0 (13)) in Cardiff/Wales..
Kotelnik (28-2-1 (12)) of the Ukraine, who boxes out of Hamburg and is trained by Michael Timm, wants to fulfil his dream and become world champion. In his second title bout Kotelnik certainly wants to get pass the controversial draw against the former world champion Souleymane M´Baye in Liverpool last year.
„In that fight it appeared not only to boxing experts and the fans that I had won and would be the new world champion.. the British judges saw it differently though. The WBA had noticed that and still rated me as the mandatory challenger and #1 of the rankings. Luckily I got through the preparation of this fight without any injuries and was highly motivated throughout this time. The training camp in Sölden/Austria was great and I’m in perfect shape. In this upcoming fight against Rees I want to demonstrate that I’m the best and I’m hoping for a fair scoring of the judges,”
Kotelnik states. “My faith in god makes me even stronger and god will stand by me in this very important fight. I will win with God’s help!”
Gavin Rees pulled off a huge shock against Frenchman and former WBA light welterweight champion Souleymane M´Baye in July 2007 in Cardiff when he claimed the title by unanimous decision. In his first title defence, the 5’3 Gavin Rees must face again a much taller opponent as his challenger Andreas Kotelnik is 54 7½.
This fight for the WBA light welterweight championship will take place on Saturday March 22nd at 10:00pm (11:00pm local time) at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff / Wales and is the headlining the boxing event which is presented by Frank Warren (Sports Network).