By Ruslan Chikov
Fritz Zdunek, trainer of the WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, expects challenger Shannon Briggs to be very dangerous in the first few rounds, but hopes Vitali will end the fight with a knockout on Saturday in Hamburg, Germany. Zdunek saw the impressive physical appearance of Briggs at Monday's final press conference. He was happy that Briggs took the fight serious.
"We have found that Briggs is serious here, but he does not scare us. Vitali had excellent sparring partners. We trained very seriously for this fight because the opponent has a decent track record. We watched videos of several fights involving Briggs and concluded that the first round for us is going to be very tense," Zdunek told Alexander Pavlov.
Klitschko has trained for a twelve round fight. The goal for Zdunek, is to have his fighter end the contest without any type of controversy from the judges. He is not sure if Briggs will be able to last twelve rounds due to asthma and exhaustion.
"We are ready for twelve rounds. Another question is whether Shannon will keep up with the pace that Vitali has to offer. But I am sure that we will leave the ring victorious. The battle may end in a knockout, though Vitali is not as big puncher a puncher as Briggs. But my fighter has a good punch and the knockout is very likely," Zdunek said.
