Photos: Wilhelm Springer
Two very different attitudes on display in Hamburg, Germany. While Alexander Povetkin, WBA Heavyweight-World-Champion, was happy to talk to the press and presented himself in a positive manner, his mandatory Hasim Rahman drew attention by being quite moody at their first press conference leading up to their fight on September 29 in Hamburg. Maybe the reason for the behaviour of the former world champion was the long and exhausting journey from the Staates. According to himself, he was just upset about him not being illustrated on the promotional posters for the event. “Obviously, I am not being respected over here. For that, I will punish Povetkin inside the ring and take revenge. This is all I have got to say.” Indeed, Rahman didn’t give many interviews to the media afterwards.
On the other side, Povetkin was extremely communicative during his appearance in the hanseatic city of Hamburg. Perhaps his new coach Kostya Tszyu, who accompanied him to Germany, inspired him. The man in his corner is a boxing icon himself: A World and European Champion as an amateur, where he won 248 out of 259 fights. Tszyu then also established himself as an excellent professional fighter, unifying the titles of the WBC, WBA and IBF – a truly undisputed champion. His professional record stands at 31 wins out of 34 bouts. Now he aims to make WBA titleholder Alexander Povetkin even more successful than he already is.
“I am very happy with my new coach, we have a great relationship. I can learn a lot from Kostya Tszyu. I have already improved my stamina while training under his supervision in my hometown of Chekhov. I am feeling really good”, said Povetkin. “I promise you that I will be in great shape and will deliver an amazing fight in Hamburg. I have already fought here once before and visited my promoter Kalle Sauerland, who lives here. Therefore, I am not going to let anyone down. But you should never underestimate a mandatory challenger. Rahman wants to win but so do I.”
“This will be an exciting and thrilling championship fight”, stated promoter Kalle Sauerland. “We believe in Alexander and his abilities and everybody knows, that the winner is going to get his chance against Wladimir Klitschko in 2013.”
