***King Arthur beats Klitschkos – Abraham voted “Boxer of the Year” again***  
 
Undefeated IBF middleweight champion King Arthur Abraham celebrated another prestigious success this week when he was voted “Boxer of the Year” for the third straight time. The readers of Germany´s BoxSport magazine as well as a panel of established boxing experts elected the 28-year-old ahead of Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. “That is a great honour for me,” King Arthur said. “I am very happy about the fans´ and the experts´ verdict. We have worked very hard to be successful and I want to thank my coach as well as my team for their great support. Without their help I would not have achieved anything.” 
 
King Arthur made three successful appearances in 2008. In March, he stopped Elvin Ayala in the 12th round before dusting long-time foe Edison Miranda in the fourth round of his America debut in June. In November, he then put aside mandatory challenger Raul Marquez, who retired after the sixth round. 
 
2008 was a successful year for Ulli Wegner, too, with the 66-year-old being voted “Coach of the Year” for the sixth straight time, sharing this year´s honours with Fritz Sdunek. Wegner not only led King Arthur to international stardom but also guided cruiserweight Marco “Captain” Huck and super-middleweight Karo Murat to European titles. Heavyweight Francesco Pianeta and cruiserweight Alexander Frenkel also clinched world youth titles. 

***Pianeta to defend EU heavyweight title against Duhaupas***  
 
EU heavyweight champion Francesco Pianeta will be in action on Saturday night when he takes on unbeaten Frenchman Johann Duhaupas on the Valuev-Holyfield undercard in Zurich. It will be the first defence of the title he won in August thanks to an eighth-round TKO victory over Scott Gammer. “The title defence will put me one step closer to my next goal, which is winning the European heavyweight title,” Pianeta said. “I keep improving in training all the time and want to show that on Saturday.” 
 
Both Pianeta and his challenger enter the fight with an unbeaten record of 17 wins and zero losses. The 24-year-old German, however, has one more KO to his name (11) than his opponent. “Duhaupas is very strong,” Pianeta said. “He is almost two metres tall, very quick and fires very dangerous hooks. But I am not worried at all – I have practiced very well and know what I am capable of doing. I will not underestimate him but I will not overestimate him either. I have no doubts that I will win.”

GAVIN SAYS HE IS THE FUTURE

Hot prospect Frankie Gavin says he is the future of British boxing - and will take up the reigns once the current crop of stars have retired.

The 2007 world amateur lightweight champion makes his glittering professional debut early next year after signing terms with top promoter Frank Warren.

His career will develop alongside those of fellow 2008 Olympians Billy Joe Saunders and Gold medalist James DeGale.

And during a media work out today in Manchester, Gavin said the trio are the next generation of stars.

"Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton are fantastic fighters," said Gavin.

"But they will be coming to the end of their careers in the next year or so, and the search is already on for the boxers who are going to replace them.

"I think that guys like James, Billy Joe and myself can step into their shoes and deliver the fights that the British public want to see.

"It's not going to be easy getting to the top, but we've got the talent to get to world level, and we'll all be pushing each other on to get there.

"I'm so excited about the next couple of years, because with the backing of Frank Warren, who developed Hatton, Calzaghe and Naseem Hamed into household names, we're going to get lots of publicity and the same kind of recognition that the top name fighters are getting at the moment.

Gavin, 23, will be trained by Anthony Farnell in Manchester, and impressed when he was put through his paces today.

"We've got a great camp here with some quality lads in the gym," he added. "There's no cutting corners, and every day I've got to 110% on top of my game otherwise I get found out.

"I've improved so much already, and I can't wait until my first professional fight because people are going to be really impressed by what they see."