Klitschko vows to sock it to Sosnowski at soccer stadium -- Gulf Times

Reuters/Berlin

heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko has promised to give fight fans a memorable display when he takes on Polish challenger Albert Sosnowski on May 29.

“Muhammad Ali had this belt,” said the 38-year-old Ukrainian as he held it aloft at a news conference in Gelsenkirchen. “Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis had it and now I am the rightful owner.

“I am the strongest in the world and for whoever comes to watch the fight I promise an unforgettable performance. I will only part with this belt when I want to.”

Klitschko, whose brother Vladimir holds the WBO, IBO and IBF heavyweight belts, will fight the British-based Sosnowski in front of an expected 60,000 crowd in Schalke 04’s soccer stadium in Gelsenkirchen.

“He (Sosnowski) has more fights than me, more experience in the heavyweight division ... but I am happy with whoever comes to challenge me and I am delighted with the fight,” said the champion.

“With Sosnowski, we met and talked. I saw it (hunger) in his eye. He wants it.”

Klitschko has 39 victories from 41 fights with two defeats while the 31-year-old Sosnowski has won 45 of 48 bouts, losing twice and drawing once.

Hopkins and Jones rematch ‘no clown reality show’

NEW YORK: The rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr is not just two boxers in the twilight of their careers looking to settle an old score nearly two decades after they last fought, the pair said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call ahead of their non-title fight in Las Vegas on April 3, the American boxers said they were still at the top of their game and some younger fighters did not offer the same competition.

“When we came up when we were younger we spent more time doing things that enhanced our skills, nowadays there is so much to do that you don’t get much time to work on your skills,” the 41-year-old Jones said.

According to Jones, today’s younger fighters spend more time with video games and other distractions instead of working on enhancing skills the way he did in his early days.

Jones, who beat Hopkins when the two fighters first met on May 22, 1993 in Washington for the IBF middleweight title, also said older fighters today were better conditioned than ever and that younger fighters, while fresher, were not as skilful.

Jones (54-6, 40 knockouts) defeated a 32-year-old Jeff Lacy last August before suffering a first-round knockout defeat by Australian Danny Green, then 36, in December, which triggered fears a rematch with Hopkins would not occur.

But in early February the two sides agreed to fight again.

Hopkins (50-5-1, 32 knockouts) even went as far as to say people would be just as interested in this fight as they would if retired basketball greats Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson played one-on-one.

“This is not on some clown reality show station where you have two wrestlers, two boxers, two old entertainers or two old singers squaring off on some reality show,” said 45-year-old Hopkins. “This is the real deal.”

Source: gulf-times.com