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IBF, WBO and IBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs) will defend his titles against Russian Alexander Povetkin (19-0, 14 KOs) on September 11.
Venue will be the Commerzbank-Arena Frankfurt, Germany, which will have a capacity of 54,000 on fight night. The Commerzbank-Arena is the home of German soccer team Eintracht Frankfurt.
Povetkin, 2004 Olympic Champion in Athens, Greece, is rated #1 in the IBF and WBO rankings and the mandatory IBF challenger of Klitschko.
Klitschko, Olympic Gold medalist 1996 in Atlanta, USA: “Alexander Povetkin is a very strong opponent. We are both Olympic Champions, which stands for itself. It will be a very tough fight, but I have no doubt that I will keep my titles.
“In the beginning of my career, I fought in Frankfurt twice and won. Now, I am looking forward to fighting in this fantastic stadium in front of a great audience.”
30-year-old Povetkin is unbeaten and lives in Chekhov near Moscow. His trainer is Teddy Atlas, former coach of ex heavyweight champions Mike Tyson and Michael Moorer. In his career, Povetkin – “The White Lion“ – beat former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd as well as championship challengers Eddie Chambers and Ed Mahone.
Povetkin:”I had to wait pretty long for this chance and will now get Klitschko’s belts. Right now, I am training in the US with ten sparring partners, among them former world champions. This is the biggest fight of my career and I will be better prepared than ever before. Now it is my time, I am the future of the heavyweight division.”
It is Klitschko’s 18th world championship fight. In his last bout in March, 34-year-old defeated Eddie Chambers with a spectacular knockout in round 12 in Düsseldorf, Germany, in front of a sold-out crowd of 51,000.
Bernd Bönte, Managing Director of Klitschko Management Group (KMG): “The Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt is a gigantic stadium and I am very glad that we will have this top fight in this venue. Together with the management of the arena and our TV partner RTL we will arrange an unforgettable fight night.”
In Germany, the fight will be shown live and exclusively on RTL.
