Home Amateur & Olympic APB championships: Super heavyweight & light welterweight next up

APB championships: Super heavyweight & light welterweight next up

Credit: AIBA

Pfeifer vs Nistor II will decide the world Super Heavyweight champion

A sell-out crowd is guaranteed at the Inselparkhalle Wilhelmsburg in Hamburg, Germany, for Tuesday’s AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) World Super Heavyweight (+91kg) Championship match between Germany’s reigning champion Erik Pfeifer and the Romanian challenger Mihai Nistor.

Boxing fans around the world can catch all the action from 20:00 (GMT +2) on Tuesday night via https://www.youtube.com/user/AIBAproboxingTV.

Pfeifer remains undefeated in the ABP format, having won all four of his previous matches including an earlier victory over Nistor, and is full of confidence ahead of the first defence of the title infront of his home fans.

“I feel very happy, but I don’t feel any pressure. It’s always nice to fight at home, but I can be efficient when I fight anywhere else too!”, he said.

Blessed with lightning quick hands and a sizeable reach, Pfeifer’s rapid combination punching is a rare sight in the heaviest weight class, and he also possesses devastating one-punch knockout power in both hands.

Meanwhile, Romania’s Mihai Nistor has consistently been one of the most exciting of the APB Super Heavyweight boxers, registering an impressive win over Russia’s Magomed Omarov and producing a tactical masterclass to overcome the Morroccan Mohammed Arjaoui and set up the bout with Pfeifer.

“It is difficult to fight on my opponent’s home turf… but it just pushes me on and makes my desire to win even greater,” Mihai said.

The Romanian is one of the shortest fighters in the weight division, but he uses it to his advantage by creating unexpected angles from which to launch punches and maintaining constant movement in the ring.

“It is simple,” he continued. “I reduce the distance that they can use to their advantage by getting closer to them and working on the lower part of the body.”

Fireworks are expected in Hamburg as the outstanding champion and challenger battle it out for the coveted APB belt, and fans wont want to miss a single second of the action.

Zakaryan vs Harutyunyan III for APB Light Welterweight World glory in Hamburg

On Tuesday night, the Inselparkhalle Wilhelmsburg in Hamburg, Germany, will host the AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) World Championships, with Russian light welterweight (64 kg) champion Armen Zakaryan defending his title against home favourite Artem Harutyunyan.

Boxing fans around the world will be able to catch all the action from the historic event live from 20:00 (GMT +2) on https://www.youtube.com/user/AIBAproboxingTV.

Armen Zakaryan has established himself as one of APB’s most successful and exciting boxers, with a perfect 4-0 record so far in the competition. Two outstanding victories already over Artem Harutyunyan have established the 25-year-old as a dominant force, with the 2013 European Champion showing the versatility of his offence in both their previous encounters.

In Hamburg, however, the Russian Champion will endure his first 12-round match. “I definitely changed my training”, said Zakaryan. “During training we can have 12 and 15 rounds. I’m ready to compete in long fights”.

A bronze medalist at the 2013 European Championships, Artem Harutyunyan was in excellent form in his first round match against the strong Lithuanian Evaldas Petrauskas, dropping just a single round on one judge’s scorecard.

The German hope has already tasted success infront of his home crowd during a magnificent second-round victory over Algeria’s Abdelkader Chadi, and despite the two previous defeats to Zakaryan, Harutyunyan remains confident both in his powerful boxing style and the support of the home fans. “I have succeeded because I stood back up every time I fell. I’m ready and motivated for this match,” he said.
The supreme stamina, creative attacking instinct and sheer will to win of both men, looks set to make this one of the most entertaining matches in APB history.