After a successful professional debut – a second-round TKO over Nana Chakhvasvili in mid-June – former fashion model and kickboxing world champion Hanna Hansen will step into the professional boxing ring for a second time this Saturday night at the famed Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany.
Light middleweight Hansen will face 34-fight veteran Klaudia Vigh over six two-minute rounds. Taking just a one-week break after her first fight, Hansen underwent an intense training camp with her trainer, former world title challenger Maurice Weber, at the state-of-the-art Sturm Gym in Cologne.
”Everything went according to the plan,“ Hansen said with just a couple of days to go before fight night. “We had great sparring, I am in tiptop shape and I simply cannot wait to get back into the ring.“
Among others, Hansen sparred with two-division and current super middleweight world champion Christina Hammer. “It was a great experience to work with such a great champion like Christina,“ Hansen said.
“It helped me a lot to spar someone who truly is among the best fighters in the world, so I want to thank Christina for coming into camp. It is great to see women helping women to archive great things. Back in my modeling days, the only thing I ever experienced was competition.
“No one wanted to share the spotlight, no one wanted to help another girl out. That’s not who I am and I am glad to have people around me with the same mindset. Of course, boxing is an individual sport – but if we all work together, we can bring female boxing back to the spotlight in Germany. I want to be a part of that and that’s what I am working for day after day after day.“
While the transition from kickboxing to the sweet science was somewhat problematic the first time around, the second pure boxing training camp went much smoother for Hansen. “It’s getting better every day. I have a great team, a great trainer, and without them, I wouldn’t be here.
Maurice is pushing me to the limit every day, he’s teaching me new stuff and continues to fine-tune my boxing abilities. I was happy with our first camp together, but this one is even better. I am absolutely ready for Saturday night and I will bring the win back home to my two daughters.“ Weber added: “I admire her work ethic. In regards to training discipline, there’s Felix Sturm, and then there’s Hanna.
“But that’s exactly what she has to do if she wants to make her dreams of becoming a world champion come true. It won’t come easy, it requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Hanna is 37 years of age, so we don’t have any time to waste.“ The comments of her trainer caused Hansen to smile: “It’s such a great compliment to be compared to a legend like Felix. Boxing is my passion and I will keep doing what I have to do to learn, to improve, and to win a world title.“
Outside of her rigorous training regime, Hansen is also focused on recovery between training sessions. She’s a regular at a local cold chamber and adds physical therapy to her packed schedule at least twice a week. “I believe that your body is a temple,“ Hansen said.
“So you have to treat it like one. At the age of 20, I felt like I didn’t need much regeneration, I thought my body could handle everything I throw at it. But at 37, it surely does need time to heal. I am much smarter about my body now and it pays off. I believe recovery also plays a big role in staying healthy and avoiding injuries. When I was still kickboxing, I went into a fight with a broken foot, an injury that happened days before the fight, and I don’t want that to ever repeat itself.“
Boxing fans can tune-in live to Hansen’s second pro fight on Saturday night on Bild Plus, FiteTV and the UniversumTV YouTube channel. The Universum Box-Promotion event will be headlined by two heavyweight title fights: Undefeated Zhan Kossobutskiy and Joey Dawejko will collide for the WBA International strap, while unbeaten Cuban Jose Larduet and Santander Silgado are scheduled to battle for the vacant WBC Latino belt.
