By Kamel Messani

French cruiserweight Steve Hérélius (19-1-1, 11 KO) has reached his goal, to have a fight on the world stage. His opponent this Saturday at the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany is the former WBA champion Firat Arslan (29-5-1, 18 KO). They meet for the interim WBA world cruiserweight title.

For this fight, Hérélius left nothing to chance in training.

“I have never trained so much for a contest. I began my training four months ago and I chose Miami for that. I did all my physical training with Jean-Claude Abdoun. For technical-tactics, I worked with the American trainer Luis Lagerman and my lifelong trainer Joseph Germain. I spared a lot with local boxers, many of them are Cubans. I also did four trial contests. I am really in the shape of my life,” Hérélius told us.

Steve takes this contest seriously. Hérélius has a lot of respect for his opponent and he thinks Arslan will be at his best level in spite of 21 monthes of inactivity.

“Arslan is a skilled boxer. He has practical experience. He can take many blows and he is a physical monster. He is a former world champion. Even though he had been inactive, he was always training. Besides he was set to face Marco Huck last year. He only had to retreat because of an injury. Finally, he knows that it would be his last chance. He will fight in front of 10,000 fans who will wholly back him and he will do all what he can to not disappoint them and to leave the ring with the belt,” added Steve.

The Frenchman knows that in Germany, he needs to do a lot better than the local boxer in the hope of winning a decision, and he will do his best to avoid a close fight.

“I am totally alive to the risk of a local decision as it’s true that in this practice it’s very difficult to win a contest in Germany. That’s why it’s necessary to do a pure job and avoid approximation. I have to force the issue to influence the judges on my behalf. You can expect me to present a great and fine contest, and I call upon everyone to watch it on the German channel ZDF by way of satellite. I have a lot of respect for Firat Arslan and, consequently, may the best man win.” concluded Hérélius.