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Only three days to go until Arena’s first big show with major TV partner SAT.1. The first TV featured bout of the night will be the WBA featherweight championship between Cuban superstar Yuriorkis Gamboa and his unbeaten challenger Jonathan Victor Barros from Argentina .
For Gamboa it will be a special feeling to defend his title in Germany for the first time. Three years ago “El Ciclon” had given his pro-debut in Hamburg after defecting from the Cuban national team along with Odlanier Solis and Yan Barthelemy.
“I thank everybody in Hamburg for the warm reception”, states Gamboa who moved from Germany to Miami in October 2007 to rise from a promising prospect to a future mega-star. “It feels great to be back here and to be able to present the world championship to my fans in Europe . I want to show a great fight and entertain my German fans who have always supported me.”
Everything seems to be set for a great Gamboa-party but his opponent Jonathan Victor Barros from Argentina will do all he can to pull off the upset. “First of all I thank promoter Ahmet Öner and the champion, of course, to give me the chance to fight for the world title”, said Barros at the official press conference. “
I have certainly not come to Hamburg because of the nice weather. I want to do my best, show a great fight and return home being the WBA featherweight champion of the world.”
In the co-feature of the night German heavyweight hope Steffen Kretschmann tries to avenge his only career loss against Russian tough-guy Denis Bakhtov. In June 2009 Kretschmann had surprisingly lost to Bakhtov by first round TKO. Now the hard-hitting southpaw from Halle / Saale wants to pay back.
“I feel well prepared and I want to prove that I am better and stronger than Bakhtov”, says Kretschmann who has been starring in a 24/7 like TV documentation in the last four weeks. “Of course, it was different to be followed by a camera team the whole time. In the beginning it wasn’t easy concentrating on the training with so much public attention. Still I know that I will win this fight.”
The card in Hamburg also features last year’s world title challengers Mahir “Lion” Oral (middleweight) and Juan Carlos Gomez (heavyweight) plus German light heavy prospect Robert Woge who will give his pro-debut.
