Hard-hitting German heavyweight contender Konstantin Airich returned back home to Hamburg after stopping WBO#6 Ondrej Pala in the ninth round of an exciting brawl in Tekirdag (Turkey) on Friday night. With this win the “Sandman“ added the WBO European championship to the IBF intercontinental championship which he had won by annihilating Varol Vekiloglu in one round in Regensburg (Germany) last October. At the airport Airich was welcomed by his nine-year-old twins Alexia and Max.
“This is the moment I have been fighting and working for”, said proud dad Airich after his arrival. “Once you look into these eyes you know that it’s been worth all the sweat, blood, tears and pain. I had to promise to my son that I will come home with two belts so I have one for each of my kids. I cannot say how proud and happy I am that I managed to keep my word. Now I will take off some time to spend with my family, I think we all earned this.”
When 33-year-old Airich is not fighting he works as a bricklayer or travels around the world as sparring partner. Most recently he has spent four weeks in Austria with both Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.
His win over Pala should lift Airich into a top 10 position in both WBO and IBF which may open him a door to fight Wladimir Klitschko in a voluntary title defense making his way from a sparring partner to a world title challenger.
“I don’t even want to fantasize about this at the moment”, says Airich. “For the moment I am happy to be back home. I will take my rest and then discuss the next steps with my management. I am sure that we will find the right fight. I can only promise that whoever I face in the ring – I will give it my all and try to win for Alexia and Max!”
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