The city of Kiel is preparing for a spectacular Sauerland Event fight night on Saturday. In the main event, undefeated IBF middleweight champion King Arthur Abraham is looking to make a successful ninth defense of his title. "Even though it is my ninth defense, I am still hungry and highly-motivated," the 29-year-old (28-0, 23 KOs) said at today´s press conference. "Lajuan Simon has no chance to win." Naturally, the American challenger (21-0, 12 KOs) holds a different view. "I have worked and trained very hard for this fight," Simon said. "I will beat Abraham to win the title."

He lost the first duel, though, leaving the face-to-face photo shoot after just a few seconds.

Nevertheless, Abraham coach Ulli Wegner has warned his star fighter not to underestimate his opponent. "Everybody considers Arthur the favorite, but it will not be easy. Everything can be over really quick," fightnews.com cited the coaching legend as saying. "I will make sure Arthur will be mentally and physically prepared."

Manager Wilfried Sauerland added: "It was not easy to find an opponent for Arthur. A lot of people are avoiding him. We were left with four opponents and we picked the strongest one." Asked about a potential unification against Kelly Pavlik, Sauerland stated: "First Arthur needs to get past Simon. Everybody wants to see him fighting Pavlik - the fans, the TV stations and of course everybody at Sauerland Event. Now it´s time for Pavlik's promoter Top Rank to move."