Gerber to fight Mazikin
The WBA heavyweight championship fight between regular champion Alexander Povetkin and Marco Huck is not the only fight in boxing’s most famous weight class come February 25. The heavy-handed Edmund Gerber is trying to warm-up the crowd before the big spectacle that night when he takes on veteran Oleksiy Mazikin from the Ukraine.
To quote one of Europe its most influential managers in boxing, Wilfried Sauerland, Gerber the biggest heavyweight-talent in Germany at the moment. Trained by Karsten Roewer, the Schwerin-native already has 18 wins in 18 fights under his belt, 12 of them coming by way of knockout. The European Boxing Union (EBU) ranks him at 11th place, which shows that he could already be considered to fight for their prestigious title.
His opponent Mazikin won 17 out of 25 fights, with two draws on his record. He only lost against boxers like Ondrej Pala, Juan Carlos Gomez, Andrzej Wawrzyk, Odlanier Solis and Taras Bidenko. “He was pretty good in the amateurs, was an Olympian and also a runner-up in the 2001 world amateur championships at super-heavyweight. He couldn’t always live up to that in the professional ranks but nonetheless fought lots of good opposition and held his own against them – Mazikin is no man you beat when passing by”, as coach Karsten Roewer tries to warn his protégé before the fight.
Edmund Gerber is happy with his progress under the banner of Sauerland Event. ”I cannot complain – I am having a good camp leading up to this bout, with a coach who always shows me how to get better. I told the press last year that I want bigger challenges in 2012 and Mazikin is a good start – I want to beat him. Afterwards we can talk about my next opponent”, the 23-year old Gerber says.
