by Ruslan Chikov

The WBO world middleweight champion, 31-year-old Russian boxer Dmitry Pirog (19-0, 15KOs), has indicated his willingness to face the "super champion" of the WBA, 32-year-old German Felix Sturm (36-2, 15KOs). It was recently revealed by German television channel Sat.1 that April 13 is reserved for Sturm's next defense. Pirog was mentioned as one of the possible opponents to face the German star.

"As soon as I became world champion, I wanted to take risks and tried to unify the titles. Finally, Felix Sturm began to talk about [fighting] me. If only it wasn't just words, but a real desire to make this fight. I would like to conduct this fight in Russia, because in Russia there has never been a unification fight, and professional boxing in our country is on the rise, and this fight would be very interesting for the Russian public. But if that doesn't happen, I'm ready to box in Germany, provided [that I receive] objective and fair judging," Pirog said.

"Whether he actually tries to move forward and make this fight, it will become clear whether Felix Sturm has the spirit to fight, or he simply expressed his thoughts, or he's just bluffing and playing a trick on the public. He is already scheduled to fight on April 13, and I'm ready to adapt to his schedule."