From Sauerland Promotions:
Joey Gamache: ‘’Do not underestimate Svensson, she is the better, smarter fighter’’
Joey Gamache has warned people not to underestimate Klara Svensson (16-1, 5 KOs) ahead of her interim WBC Female World Welterweight title fight with Mikaela Lauren (27-3, 12 KOs) on September 10 at the Hovet in Stockholm.
The American-coach has dismissed suggestions that the Malmo-boxer is an underdog going into the fight, claiming Svensson could beat any of Lauren’s former opponents, and that she is the ‘better’ and ‘smarter’ fighter.
‘’I think a lot of people are underestimating how good of a fighter Klara is,’’ says Gamache. ‘’Her only loss was against the Argentinian Erica Farias, and Klara gave her a good fight and lost a ten-round decision. Let’s not forget, Farias was the number one girl in the division, and she would have beaten Mikaela as well.
‘’If you look at Mikaela’s record, there is no one she’s beat that Klara wouldn’t beat. She has been walking through girls like Jennifer Retzke and Ivana Habazin, but so would Klara, and those girls were tailor made for Mikaela.
‘’We’ve extremely confident. In my eyes, Klara is the big favourite. We know Mikaela is a solid fighter and she has improved a lot recently, but she’s not Klara Svensson. I just feel like I have the better fighter, the smarter fighter, and the one with the experience to adapt and do whatever she needs to win the fight.’’
Svensson will be fighting at the welterweight limit for the first time having moved up a weight division to meet Laurén. Gamache, who won a World title at super featherweight before moving up and achieving the same feat at lightweight, does not believe this will cause the 28 year-old any problems.
‘’Size is not so important. A lot of boxers have gone up in weight and been really successful,’’ he says. ‘’I think welterweight will be natural fit for Klara. She is a good size so it is just a case of filling out a little. It will be easier for Klara to go up a weight, than it will be for Mikaela coming down in weight.’’
Gamache, who is known to meticulously study his fighter’s opponents, has spent the last three months watching Laurén’s past performances, and believes he has identified both strengths and weaknesses for Svensson to exploit.
‘’Everyone knows I like to do my homework, and it’s no different with Mikaela’’ he said. ‘’I’ve been watching her every night, studying her different fights and comparing her performances. I’ve seen some strengths and I’ve seen some weaknesses, and now, we must nullify the strengths and exploit her weaknesses.’’
Tickets for the interim WBC Female World Welterweight Championship fight between Mikaela Lauren and Klara Svensson on September 10 at the Hovet are available online via http://www.globearenas.se and http://www.axs.com or by calling 0771-31 00 00.
All the action will be available to watch live and exclusive in Scandinavia on Viaplay Fighting. For more information please visit http://www.viaplay.se.