Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Universum Says Krasniqi Ready for Thompson!

The following comes from a Universum Press Release concerning the July 14 WBO Heavyweight Elimination bout between Luan Krasniqi and the Beltway's own Tony "The Tiger" Thompson. Just thought you'd be interested in what the other side has to say.

On the July 14 "Universum Champions Night" at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany, Universum heavyweight Luan Krasniqi (30-2-1, 14 KOs) will collide with Tony "The Tiger" Thompson (29-1, 17 KOs) in a WBO eliminator that will produce the mandatory challenger for champion Sultan Ibragimov.

"I'm happy to again fight in Hamburg, especially in an eliminator against Thompson," said Krasniqi today at a press conference taking place aboard the "Rickermer Rickmers," a fully-rigged ship anchored in Hamburg Harbour. "I expect him to be a dangerous opponent. He isn't the quickest, but he has an unwieldy style of boxing. However, I will be fully prepared to step into the ring and compile a victory bit by bit."

'The Lion' Krasniqi is extremely focused on his next task. "Thompson is the next opponent and I must first clear him out of the way," "Other than that, I'm not thinking about anything else."

For Krasniqi, the fight represents a chance for a second opportunity to become the first German since Max Schmeling to win a heavyweight title. In his first title challenge, in a dramatic fight on September 25, 2005 at the same arena (on the 100th birthday of Max Schmeling) Krasniqi was ahead to points when he lost in round nine to then-world champion Lamon Brewster by what Krasniqi terms "a lucky punch."

Universum promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl is optimistic about Krasniqi's chances. "For Luan a lot is going on. Naturally we want to remain on course for the world championship and this [fight] is particularly interesting for Hamburg."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If the judges come from countries other than europe..and nate does his part to make sure tony gets a fair shake...tony will do the rest tko'd in round 6