By Mark Vester
WBA junior welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik is a bit worried about the judges in his weekend defense against Amir Khan in Manchester. Kotelnik felt that he was robbed in two of his outings on British soil. In 2007 he traveled to Liverpool and went to a draw against Souleymane M'Baye, and in 2006 Junior Witter won a close decision over him in Nottingham.
"I felt I was robbed against Witter and it was the same against M'Baye," Koltenik said to The Guardian. "I was the better man. Everybody in the hall in Liverpool, the Liverpool players like Steven Gerrard [who attended], and the media knew I was the winner. Everybody was astonished about the result and all of the judges were from Britain – so maybe that's a bit of a funny story."
The paper wrote that Saturday's officials at the MEN Arena will be Danish, French and Spanish. That still doesn't ease Kotelnik's tensions.
"All I want to be is treated fairly by the judges," Kotelnik added. "I just hope I get treated fairly. I'm coming here to defend my world title and it's not normal, because I normally box in Ukraine or Germany."
Kotelnik is still very confident. He views himself as a much better fighter than Breidis Prescott, the man who knocked out Khan in 54 seconds last September. He doesn't rule out an early stoppage win.
"Of course I am better than Breidis Prescott; I am a world champion. Who is Prescott?" "If there's a chance to take him out early, then maybe, why not. I am the world champion, I have beaten everybody in the ring, and let's see what happens in the ring," Kotelnik said.
"Amir Khan is the one going around yelling and saying things, and he is the one with the big mouth. But I don't care what he says, boxing is my sport, I am doing my job. I am not going to make any predictions about how the fight will finish on the night, I will just show my strength and my ability and still be world champion."
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