After his action-packed Nordic Fight Night debut in Herning on June 2, Ahmed Kaddour (25-2-1, 10 KOs) will make another appearance on Team Sauerland´s show on September 22, taking on Max Maxwell (15-11-3, 3 KOs) at Frederikshavn´s Arena Nord. Having learned all about German discipline, timeliness and strictness at Team Sauerland´s training base in Berlin, Kaddour has predicted to stop his opponent in less than five rounds.
Q: How has the training in Berlin been going? AK: “It has been going very, very good. I am very happy I chose to come here to prepare for this fight. I have been blessed with great training, great sparring, great running – everything is superb. I´ve been working with two trainers, Karsten Roewer and Torsten Schmitz. I tell you, their training is no joke. It´s all about discipline and working hard. There is no cheating here, no slacking off, they watch us very closely, we give 100 percent in every exercise. Everybody is so professional here, everything runs on time, according to a plan, there is no fooling around. That´s exactly what I need.”
Q: How is the training different from before? AK: “They put a lot of physical stuff in the training, that´s new for me. But it definitely has made me stronger than ever. I have so much power. I am almost on weight now, more than one week before the fight. And the sparring has also been very good. That´s something I have been lacking in the past, proper sparring before a fight. I´ve fought with everybody here, Patrick Nielsen, Torben Keller, a lot of other guys, and we really fight our hearts out in sparring. It´s great, we leave it all in the ring, but that´s who I am.”
Q: Do you feel you have something to prove? AK: “For sure. People in Denmark and people all over the world have been doubting me, but I proved all of them wrong when I showed my class in my last fight in Herning. I just had two weeks of training but I went in there, manned up and I showed my skills. I have never been a pussy about anything and I think technically I was at my very best against Gary Boulden. I was tired at the end but with such short preparation that was no surprise, that´s why I decided to come to Berlin early and really work hard in practice. I have been with a lot of big promoters, like Top Rank, Bob Arum, Gary Shaw, I was in training camp with Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, I have been around the world, but with Sauerland I see a different thing, they really care about their boxers and look after them. They do what´s good for us.”
Q: What do you think about Maxwell? AK: “I knew he fought for the British Title earlier this year. In his last fight, he fought a straight-up bum and couldn ´t even knock him out. He is not a hard puncher but throws a lot of punches. But I am out of his league, I am at a different level, I will take the lead in the ring. I am younger, I am more experienced, I am better and I am stronger. He could be in superman shape and the fight would still not go the distance. Honestly, I believe this fight will last less than five rounds. I want to break every bone in his body!”
Q: If you win, what´s up next for you? AK: “I hope to fight for the Intercontinental Title at the end of the year. I´m number two in the IBF Intercontinental rankings, so if I win, hopefully I can fight for that title soon. But I will fight everybody, everywhere! Now is the time for me. Coming to Germany to train was the best decision of my life. I´m in great shape!”
Q: Is there anything else you like to add? AK: “I want to thank my family and most of all my girlfriend from Canada for supporting me. I love to give the fans and everyone else around the world the best of me, I want to thank everyone from Sauerland for giving me this opportunity to prove once again my hunger to reach my goal!”
Tickets for the Nordic Fight Night in Frederikshavn are available at www.arenanord.dk