By Alexey Sukachev
On September 27 in Moscow, WBC cruiserweight champion and TBRB #3 rated 200lber Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (49-2-1, 35 KOs) will be tested tough once again – as was often the case over the course of his present WBC reign as one of the elite cruiserweights – and this time he faces the WBO/WBC #4 and TBRB #7 Russian Grigory Drozd (38-1, 27 KOs). Wlodarczyk, who will try to defend his regalia for the seventh time, is trained by Fiodor Lapin, a native of Arkhangelsk, Russia. Lapin revealed some details on Krzysztof’s next bout in a talk with ITAR-TASS.
“Against Drozd our tactics will be much more complicated (than against Rakhim Chakkiev, who was stopped by Wlodarczyk in eight last June). Rakhim is an offensive-minded, hard-charging fighter who works both the head and body of his opponent. Drozd is different. He is a quick, versatile, endurable and physically gifted boxer. He should be outboxed. We have been holding a belt for so long because we have never underestimated our opponents, thinking much of them, considering all of them to be the best possible. Drozd is just that indeed”.
“In his last fight, Drozd dominated Mateusz Masternak both physically and tactically, then broke him down and tore him apart”, added Lapin. “But Krzysztof can work both as a lead boxer, and as a defensive specialist. We have several options. Wlodarczyk is often said to be a late-charging kayo artist, who can do it at any time. He is that versatile. But his main strengths are patience, character and self-belief – features of a true champion”.
Regarding a possible move to the heavyweight division he said, that it’s not being planned right now.
"Cruiserweights aren’t popular in the States, so many boxers transit to the sport’s glamour division. We thought about at it because a moment came when nobody wanted to fight us. Title and motivation are mandatory but there comes a moment when you need to think about extra wages, about your family, your income. It is great that several boxers have emerged in Russia, meaning that Krzysztof can stay at 200lb limit for a while”.