Hernandez-Ross tops Bamberg bill

This Saturday at the Stechert Arena in Bamberg, Cuban-born Yoan Pablo Hernandez (26-1), IBF world champion and rated by many as the best cruiserweight boxer in the world will defend his belt against Canadian Troy "The Boss" Ross (25-2).

Hernandez is the favourite to win against the experienced 37-year old Ross, but he will do well not to underestimate his hard-hitting, fellow southpaw opponent.

Ross has fought just once before in Germany when he unsuccessfully attempted to claim the vacant IBF title in 2010, losing in the 5th round by TKO to Steve Cunningham after a damaged eyelid. Ross was doing well up until that point and even had Cunningham down in the fourth round.

"Come Saturday the boxing abilities will be the decisive factor. I have been preparing a lot for this fight. I just want to prove that my set of skills is better than his. That way I will take the belt home with me" said Ross at Wednesday's public workout.

Hernandez is a cool operator who relies on his height, speed and long jab to do the damage. He is ten years younger than Ross and comes into the fight on the back of twice defeating Cunningham who has since stepped up to ply his trade in the heavyweight division.

Boxing fans will be treated to a very good undercard in Bamberg with unbeaten German heavyweight prospect Edmund Gerber (20-0) contesting an 8 round affair with Britain's highly experienced Michael Sprott (36-18), a former British and Commonwealth champion. This is Gerber's biggest test to date after earning a less than convincing points victory over American Maurice Harris in Erfurt back in May.

Also on the bill is 24-year old middleweight Dominik Britsch (26-0-1) who will rematch Spain's Roberto Santos (17-6-2) for the vacant EBU-EU crown. The pair fought out an entertaining draw in their last outing in Stuttgart back in February on the undercard of Marco Huck's failed first attempt as a heavyweight when he lost against Alexander Povetkin on points.

Another interesting cruiserweight match-up is Poland's Mateusz Masternak (27-0) against Spain's David Quinonero (27-0). Despite being ranked number 3 in the world by the WBO, Masternak has never fought anyone inside Boxrec's world top 50. Chances are good that one of these two unbeaten fighters will lose their unblemished record on Saturday.

The only other scheduled bout is between top Austrian middleweight Marcos Nader (15-0) and Damien Bertu (25-6) of France. Nader is just 22 and has a mere 13% KO rating, eight of his last nine bouts have ended with a unanimous decision in his favour, the other ending by retirement. He will be hoping for a knockout performance to convince people he has the makings of a future world champion.

Tickets for the event in Bamberg can be purchased online at www.eventim.de and www.kartenkiosk-bamberg.de