From WBC:
NO KIDDING! CHRISTINA HAMMER RESPONDS TO CLARESSA SHIELDS… “THE YOUNG ONE!”
WBC Female World Champion Christina Hammer is not only atop the middleweight division, but also on the summit of the Alps.
Thanks to her sponsor “Easymotionskin”, the 26-year-old trains at high-altitude “Athletic Camp Austria” in Seefeld, to prepare for her upcoming title defense.
“I have been in many gyms all over the world. The training facilities over here are state of the art and the setting couldn’t be more beautiful”, says Hammer, adding: “I want to thank Christian Jaeger and his team at Easymotionskin and, of course, Jopo Poetschger who is one of the best personal trainers in the world.”
Date and place of Hammer’s next fight haven’t been confirmed yet, but according to manager Harald Pia details will be announced shortly. “We are about to close the deal and hope that we can announce the fight by the weekend.” states Pia.
Hammer’s long time goal is to conquer the US with a fight against two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields. But before taking on Hammer, Shields will challenge Nikki Adler for the WBC Female World Super middleweight Championship on August 4th in Detroit.
“I will be ringside for that fight to take a close look at Claressa”, says Hammer. “She said that she faces Nikki because I refused to fight her. That’s complete nonsense. I could jump on a plane right now and fight her tomorrow if she wants. But that wouldn’t be good for her. She’s still young and she’s got a lot to learn!
“It’s important for her to gain appreciably more experience before facing me. However, I understand why she is saying stuff like this. She is using my name to promote herself and her next fight. It’s part of the business and I have no problem with that. I just recommend that she stops thinking about me and focuses on Nikki. She has to get passed her if she really wants to fight me.”
Shields’ manager Mark Taffet confirms that he has had very positive conversations with Harald Pia of Team Hammer about the prospect of a superfight between WBC 160-lb champion Christina Hammer and Claressa Shields.
“Harald an I know that both Claressa and Christina would fight tomorrow if they could, but both management teams realize that fight could be the game changer for women’s boxing. Thus we like the idea of a mid-2018 super fight, which allows us proper time to build the profile and awareness of the event. Meanwhile, we have a very tough challenge with champion Nikki Adler in front of us on August 4, so we need to stay focused and make sure we are ready for Nikki.”