Giovanni De Carolis (24-6, 12 KOs) is confident of retaining his WBA Super Middleweight title on Saturday night when he returns to Germany to face Tyron Zeuge (18-0, 10 KOs) at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.
Having claimed the WBA strap with an eleventh-round TKO win over Vincent Feigenbutz at the Baden-Arena in January, the Italian fighter makes his first defence against another of Germany’s rising super middleweight stars, the undefeated 24 year-old Zeuge.
‘’Tyron Zeuge is a talented young fighter,’’ says De Carolis. ‘’He is fast, he has good footwork and is technically very skilled, but he has been protected so far in his career. He has fought some good opponents but most have been tailor made to suit his style. I believe this will be his first real test, and we will find out how good he really is.
‘’My experience will of course play an important part, but it is not everything. Take for example my physique; I am now much physically stronger and more robust than I was when I was as a 24 year old. If I was to fight myself from eight years ago today, I would win easily, and I believe that will be the case on Saturday night.’’
If successful, the 31 year-old reveals that he would be open to a rematch with former two-weight World Champion Arthur Abraham, who faces Scandinavian star Tim-Robin Lihaug on the undercard of his World title defence.
‘’I’m looking forward to fighting in Germany again,’’ he says. ‘’This is where I won my World title and where, three years ago, I fought Arthur Abraham. He is one of the best fighters of our generation, and although I lost that fight, I learnt a lot. It gave me the belief that I could compete at the highest level, and without this experience, I would not be a World Champion today.
‘’Of course, I would like a rematch with Abraham. He gave me the chance to measure myself against him and I would love to avenge my defeat, but for now, all my focus is on Zeuge and defending my title on Saturday night.’’
