Klitschko Says Banks Will Be a Big Help Against Wach

By Luke Furman

Wladimir Klitschko (58-3, 50 KOs) is very happy to have cruiserweight Jonathon Banks in his corner on November 10th in Hamburg. Wladimir defends his WBO/IBO/WBA/IBF titles against unbeaten Polish giant Mariusz Wach (27-0, 15 KOs). Wladimir's longtime trainer, Emanuel Steward, is very ill and unable to work his corner on fight night. Banks is student of Steward's Kronk Gym in Detroit and Wladimir says the two of them have the same boxing mentality.

"Jonathon Banks has been my training partner since 2004, and he will be standing in my corner during the fight with Mariusz Wach. He is perfectly capable of analyzing what happens in the ring, and that's what I'm going to need," said Wladimir, who continues to train with Banks in Austria.

"At this time Emanuel is not with us, but we all wish him a speedy recovery. Fortunately, I am constantly surrounded by people associated with [Emanuel], so our boxing philosophy does not change. Although [Wach] is a large fighter, he has many attributes that are not typical for this type of competitor. He's dangerous, but very quiet and always stays at low center of gravity. The two times we met - in Warsaw and Hamburg - and I can't say a bad word about him. We respect each other. Soon we will meet, on November 10th, and I'm taking this fight very seriously."

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org