Vitali Klitschko burning to step into the
ring again on Saturday
06.12,01
- Essen- Former WBO heavyweight world champion Dr. Vitali
Klitschko is burning to step into the ring again on
Saturday at Arena Oberhausen. It will be his first fight
in more than ten months. The big Klitschko brother was
sidelined due to a knew injury that he suffered in training
in June.
His opponent on the event billed as "Night Of The
Giants" (All 7 fights of the evening will be heavyweight
contests) is Ross Puritty. The 34-year-old American
is the only man to defeat Vitali's brother Wladimir
three years ago in Kiev when the inexperienced young
Klitschko overpaced himself and ran out of gas in round
11.
At least 8,500 of the 10,000 available tickets for the
huge Arena Oberhausen have already been sold.
"I'm burning to finally step into the ring again"
Vitali Klitschko, 29-1 (28 KOs), said. "This will
be a very interesting fight."
In his last fight the 30-year-old Ukrainian knocked
out American Orlin Norris in the 1st round in January.
His knee injury then forced him to postpone future contests.
Klitschko said he now is "finally back in top shape.
With five weeks of sparring I finally regained my old
punching power".
Klitschko will need a lot of punching power if he intends
to stop Puritty, 28-14-3 (24 KOs). It's because the
Texan hasn't been knocked out in the past 10 years of
his professional career even though he faced almost
every top contender. Among others Puritty went the distance
against Kirk Johnson, Hasim Rahman, Michael Grant, Corrie
Sanders, Larry Donald and Chris Byrd.
"Vitali will never knock me out" Puritty said.
"You must be kidding. I'm in much better shape
than in 1998 when I beat Wladimir. This was a great
victory. Of course I also profited from Wladimir's inexperience,
though."
Puritty prepared in Germany for five weeks at the gym
of Sauerland Promotion in Cologne. German Manfred Wolke,
the former coach of Axel Schulz and Henry Maske, constructed
the game plan for Puritty whereas American coach Eddie
Autry got his charge in shape.
"We know that Vitali can hit hard", Puritty
coach Eddie Autry said. "But he won't be able to
stop Ross. Nobody can knock him out. However, we don't
go into this fight only to last the distance. Ross is
coming to win."
"This is the most important fight of my career"
Puritty said who calls himself "The Klitschko Nightmare".
"If I win I'm on top."
Dr. Vitali Klitschko, who studied sports sciences and
made his PhD two years ago, is a former WBO heavyweight
champion. He won the title in June of 1999 when he knocked
out Brit Herbie Hide in two rounds. Klitschko then defended
his title twice, stopping Americans Ed Mahone and Obed
Sullivan. In his third title defense in April of 2000
Klitschko suffered a severe shoulder injury and lost
his crown to Chris Byrd.
Vitali Klitschko is also a former two time European
champion and currently holds the WBA international title
that he will also put on the line against Puritty.
"I have a lot of respect for Ross Puritty",
Vitali Klitschko said. "He is tough, he can take
a punch and he has lots of power. It's a very important
fight for me. It could set me up for bigger things next
year."
06.12,01
- Essen- Former WBO heavyweight world champion Dr. Vitali
Klitschko is burning to step into the ring again on
Saturday at Arena Oberhausen. It will be his first fight
in more than ten months. The big Klitschko brother was
sidelined due to a knew injury that he suffered in training
in June.