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Pastimes : Boxing: The Sweet Science -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LPS5 who wrote (2258)	3/22/2001 11:56:08 AM
From: LPS5	Respond to of 10489

Wladimir Klitschko promises to show something people have never seen before By Fabian Weber Munich - After working with his brain cells for some time Wladimir Klitschko will now resume working with punches. Two months after taking his doctorates in sport science at the university of Kiev, Klitschko will step back into the ring to defend his WBO heavyweight world title when he takes on American Derrick Jefferson this Saturday at Munich's Rudi-Sedlmayer arena. It will be the first title defense of the Hamburg based 24-year-old Ukrainian who reclaimed the WBO title for the Klitschko family by defeating Chris Byrd, the conqueror of his brother, in October of last year. "The first title defense is something very special", Klitschko, an Olympic gold medal champion of 1996, knows. "Now I'm not a challenger anymore. This is a new situation for me." Klitschko also hopes that it's no bad omen for his fight that his brother Vitali lost for the first time shortly after taking his own doctor's degree in spring of 2000. It's because he has great aims for the near future. "Inside this year I want to fulfill my dream: I want to fight the winner of a bout between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson", Wladimir Klitschko, 35-1 (32 KOs), said. Whether a Lewis-Tyson fight will be realized depends on the competing American television channels HBO and Showtime. In any case Klitschko first has to get past Jefferson if he wants a shot at Lewis, the champion of the WBC and the IBF. "I didn't come to Germany to enjoy the country. I came to win the title. March 24 is a good day to die", Jefferson warned the WBO champion. The 33-year-old 6-foot-6 giant from Detroit is a professional boxer for six years, after a street gang shot his leg and disabled him from playing basketball any longer. "I have no specific style, I have no game plan. I just come to win", Jefferson, 24-2-1 (19 KOs), said. "I prepared for this fight for seven years - as long as I'm a boxer. But I had special preparation for Klitschko: I've been listening to Mozart and Beethoven to understand how he feels and thinks", Jefferson explained mysteriously. "Wladimir Klitschko is the number one fighter in the world, he is the champion. However, he has weaknesses, like posing for too many centerfold magazines. His strength in my mind is his doctor's degree. I can't take that away from him", Jefferson gibed at the champion. "Klitschko and his management proved their heart and their determination by accepting to fight me. They didn't have to do that. It proves a lot in my eyes." "Wladimir Klitschko has a lot of courage by accepting to fight Derrick", Claude Strickland, trainer of Jefferson, added. "Over a twelve week period we prepared for this fight." "Derrick Jefferson ran over thousand miles and he bench pressed a combined weight of five S-class Mercedes. He sparred over 300 rounds with top contenders in the United States. He hit three of those sparring partners so hard that we had to send them back home to attend to their injuries. We came here to Germany to take the WBO heavyweight title to the United States, to Detroit Michigan." "Fans from wherever they watch the fight won't be disappointed. There will be no quit, there will be no stop, there will be one winner", the eloquent coach of Jefferson concluded. "I'm impressed by Jefferson's great preparation. But I hope he didn't exhaust himself too much by running all these endless miles", Fritz Sdunek replied joking, the coach of both Klitschko brothers and light heavyweight world champion Dariusz Michalczewski. "Wladimir prepared for this fight extremely focused for eight weeks. We had many good sparring partners who also tried to imitate the style of Jefferson. This was pretty hard for them, though, because Jefferson really has a very strange and unique style. But we are prepared for that and we are prepared for his great power." "I don't make predictions very often but in this case I predict a win of Wladimir inside ten rounds." In some way Derrick Jefferson agrees with the prediction of his opponent's trainer. "It will take me 18 rounds to be victorious", Jefferson set to explain. "It will take me 9 rounds to beat Wladmir and another 9 rounds to beat his brother after I come back." "Don't miss a second of the fight, no matter you watch on television or you come to the arena", Klitschko advised the spectators of Saturday's event. "You will get to see something that you never saw before. It will be a great fight and it won't go the distance. Jefferson is a very strong opponent, he's very awkward and he has a big heart." "I like he idea that Jefferson believes he can read my mind. But it would be easier if you just ask me", Wladimir said changing from German to English language and directing his words to his opponent. "The only thing I'm thinking about right now is beating you." "I hope for a capacity crowd inside the arena because this will heat up the fight even more. Enjoy a great evening of boxing with two world championships, one in the lightest and one in the heaviest weight class", Klitschko said changing back to German language and referring to the WBO flyweight title fight of his stable mate Zoltan Lunka against Mexican Fernando Montiel. According to Olaf Markhoff, spokesman for the broadcasting channel PremiereWorld, the event will be produced with a higher expenditure than usual. "We will use 12 cameras from different angles. And perhaps we will be able to have a premiere when we televise a champion who is fighting right into his birthday", Markhoff said pointing on the fact that Wladimir Klitschko celebrates his 25th birthday on Sunday. "This event is a great chance for me to become popular in the US", the athletic and handsome 6-foot-7 Klitschko said on his fight that will be televised by HBO in the United States at the same evening in a show that will also feature the comeback of Oscar De La Hoya. "I still have great aims and I enjoy when problems appear on that path that I can get rid of. Jefferson is such a problem that I will get rid of."