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For eight weeks Arena’s promising heavyweight prospect Steffen Kretschmann and IBF middleweight championship contender Mahir Oral have been in training camp together with coach Hans-Jürgen Witte.
After a stay at famous “Sportschule Hennef” near Cologne and another three weeks of sparring in Hamburg the team has hit Berlin last weekend for their final preparations.
Kretschmann (13-0, 12 kos) will be in action on Friday in Völklingen, live on Eurosport, against Russia ’s reigning PABA champion Denis Bakhtov (29-5, 18 kos). If “Kretsches” can convincingly beat EBU and WBA #14 Bakhtov he might be in line for a shot at the European championship later this year.
Experts already keep a close eye on the 29 year old 6’5’’, 230 lbs. southpaw who some consider to be a possible successor of Germany heavyweight legend Max Schmeling.
Mahir Oral is already very close to making history. “The Lion” who challenges IBF champion Arthur Abraham at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin on Saturday, live on ARD in Germany and Showtime in the USA, could become the first ever world champion born and raised in Hamburg.
“I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for Mahir on Saturday”, says Kretschmann. “I hope that he can pull the upset and dethrone ‘King Arthur’. For me it is still a long way to a world title shot. Bakhtov will be a good test. I know that I have to beat him to proceed my way to the top.”
The busiest man this weekend will be trainer Hans-Jürgen Witte who has to be in the corner of both men and travel from Berlin to Völklingen and back in between.
“Preparation went very well for both guys”, states Witte. “They are mentally strong and know what they are capable of. If they both exploit there potential to the limit I am sure that Steffen and Mahir have good chances of winning their bouts.”
For promoter Ahmet Öner it is a busy week as well: “Of course, participating in two shows in two days means a lot of work but we also enjoy it. This is what we are working and living for. This is already the third big world title fight that Arena participates in; I am proud that we got this far in less than three years.”
