WBA middleweight kingpin Felix Sturm and former European champion Matthew Macklin came face-to-face for the first time since announcing their world title clash on Saturday today at the final press conference at the luxury Wasserturm hotel in Cologne, Germany. The championship bout will draw an 18.000 plus crowd at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.

“We had a great camp and I believe I’m better than I was in my previous fights”, the champion told the assembled media. “I expect a great fight on Saturday night and I don’t believe it will last the distance.” His coach Fritz Sdunek added: “We will expose Macklin’s flaws. Even if our plan A won’t work, we have a plan B in place that will. Felix is really strong and ready. He will keep his WBA belt for sure.” Clive Salz, Sturm’s fitness and nutrition specialist, praised his protégés work ethic: “Camp is a tough time but he did a great job as always and will be a hundredth percent ready for Macklin.”

The challenger from Ireland told the press he himself had a great camp and will be ready to go to war on fight night. “I’m ready for this. You’ll see the best Matthew Macklin ever and I’ll take the WBA title back home. This is my first world title bout, but I won two European title fights. On Saturday, I’ll archive my dream and become champion.” Macklin went on to thank the reigning champion for the opportunity. His coach Joe Gallagher complimented Sturm on his achievements but also said that his time as a champion will be over this weekend. “He is a legend and had many great moments in his career”, Gallagher said. “But you can’t stay on top forever and on Saturday, Matthew will take his place. I hope he brings his A-game, because we will certainly do so.”

When asked about his challenger’s confidence, Sturm smiled and said: “There won’t be a new champion if things work out like we strongly believe they will.”

The defending champion also talked about the TV deal with EPIX. The network will air the fight live in the United States. It can even be seen on a big screen at Times Square in New York. “That’s a great honor for me”, Sturm acknowledged. “I still have fans in the USA since the de la Hoya fight and now they can watch me live again.”