01.07.08 – Both WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm and challenger Randy Griffin faced off at today’s today’s presser at the Cinemaxx in Bielefeld, Germany. Sturm vs Griffin is a rematch of last year’s draw, in which Sturm retained his title..
The bout will headline the big “Universum Champions Night” card at the Gerry Weber Stadion in Halle/Westfalen, Germany, which was also slated to feature the Chagaev-Valuev II WBA heavyweight title fight until Chagaev suffered an injury late last week.
“I’ve looked the fight from last year a few times. Nobody can be content with a draw, especially not me. That’s why I immediately asked for a rematch,” stated the three-time champion Sturm (29-2-1, 13 KOs), who is coming off possibly the best performance of his career in a seven round KO of Jamie Pittman.
“This fight will be the most interesting in the middleweight division and I’m glad that it came about,” continued Sturm. “In the past few months I’ve become stronger and have learned from my mistakes. From the beginning I’ll set the tempo and throw many more punches. I want to get past this. I’m enormously motivated because this fight is all important for me and I feel at ease and relaxed.”
Sturm’s trainer Michael Timm added: “All who know Felix, know that he comes back [better] after a fight like this. He is stronger than ever before. Preparations have never been so much fun. Felix has his diet changed and is fully rested. He has pulled through the tough preparation. He will be in front and bang away, but will use his brain. This time he will leave no doubts.”
Challenger Randy Griffin (24-1-3, 12 KOs) sounded equally confident today: “I feel I’m in very good condition and have prepared myself very well. I owe Felix for the chance of a rematch. I have closely analyzed the last fight and now I can do better to bring down Felix – I predict the tenth or eleventh round. This is my plan! I also think a lot about my family, because my father passed away on Christmas Eve. This is additional motivation for me.”
In other action WBO #2/WBA #4 middleweight Sebastian Zbik (22-0, 8 KOs) will face Mario Alberto Lopez (22-4-0, 19 KOs) for Zbik’s WBO Intercontinental belt.
EU super featherweight titleholder Vitali Tajbert (15-0, 6 KOs) defends his belt against his mandatory challenger of Portugal, Antonio Joao Bento (20-6-2, 10 KOs).
The Hungarian WBO #6 super middleweight Karoly Balzsay (18-0, 13 KOs) defends his WBO Intercontinental belt against Jose Alberto Clavero (27-6-2, 10 KOs) of Argentina.
Unbeaten Universum heavyweight prospect Denis Boytsov (21-0, 18 KOs) meets journeyman Fernely Feliz (23-8, 16 KOs).
And kicking off the night will be a cruiserweight clash between Patrick Dobroschi (6-0, 2 KOs) and Lubo Hantak (1-22).
click here to view press conference photos