HOLLYWOOD, FL – There will be no New Year’s Eve parties for WBO
Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov. Instead, he will be
preparing for a bigger prize as he gets ready to drop bombs on Wladimir
Klitschko in their highly-anticipated heavyweight title unification bout
on February 23rd at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“Anything worth having requires sacrifices,” said the unbeaten
Ibragimov, who has just opened up his training camp in Florida.
“Ever since I began fighting, I wanted to become a world champion, and
I achieved that goal in 2007. Now my goal is to become the unified
heavyweight champion and I will have my opportunity on February
23rd. The work is hard, but I know the reward will be worth it.”
Klitschko and Ibragimov, a 12 round heavyweight title unification
bout, headlines a historic night of boxing presented by K2 Promotions
and Seminole Warriors Boxing and will be televised live on HBO World
Championship Boxing. Tickets are on sale now.
A native of Dagestan who represented Russia and won a Silver medal in
the 2000 Olympic Games, Ibragimov (22-0-1, 17 KOs) has continued his
success in the pro game, winning the WBO world heavyweight title from
Shannon Briggs in June of 2007 and defending it for the first time in
October with a unanimous decision victory over Evander Holyfield.
Now he pursues the toughest challenge of all in IBF champion Wladimir
Klitschko.
“Klitschko is a formidable opponent and I respect him,” said
Ibragimov. “But I feel better than ever, I’m excited to be in
training camp and preparing for the unification bout on February
23rd.”
