Visa delay keeps Kotelnik from news conference

LONDON (AP)—Junior welterweight champion Andrea Kotelnik expects to keep his distance in the ring against big-punching Amir Khan. He had no choice Wednesday when visa delays prevented him from attending a joint news conference to promote the fight.
The Ukrainian did his talking from Germany.
“I will knock Amir Khan out on June 27 as I am so annoyed right now,” the German-based WBA champion said by phone.
“Khan is a good, ambitious fighter. Like me he won a silver medal at the Olympics and we were beaten by the great Mario Kindelan. But that is where the similarity ends. I am a world champion and I will show my class against this child.”
Kotelnik, who has fought three times in Britain and has a 31-1-2 record, was unable to get a visa in time to fly in for a news conference which was postponed twice. The bureaucratic delays left promoter Frank Warren furious.
“I am very, very disappointed and quite angry about it,” Warren said. “I shouldn’t think he is a threat to national security.”
Warren is confident that Kotelnik’s visa problem will be sorted out before the fight at London’s O2 Arena.

British boxer Amir Khan, left,… AP - Apr 22, 7:44 am EDT
Khan, who is moving up from lightweight, is getting his first world title chance at age 22. He showed his potential with a series of early knockout victories and by beating Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera in a bout that was stopped after five rounds on March 14.
His only loss came when he was knocked out in 54 seconds last September by Colombia’s Breidis Prescott, a defeat that revealed a suspect chin.
Khan said that loss taught him a lesson and he has since been working in the United States with Freddie Roach and sparring in the same camp as Manny Pacquiao, widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
“So much has changed from that defeat. I changed from a boy into a man,” said Khan, who first made his mark by winning an Olympic silver medal as a 17-year-old.
“There were times when I would just go in the ring and fight but the Prescott defeat taught me in the right way. If I had gone into that fight and boxed with my mind it would have been a different night.”
Kotelnik has only 13 knockouts among his 31 victories, the last of which was a split decision over the previously unbeaten Marcos Rene Maidana of Argentina in February. Khan’s punching power even in the heavier division should cause the champion plenty of problems.
“I am confident I can do a job on him,” Khan said. “I have got fast feet and fast hands and if I box him cleverly, I think I can make it an easy night and a night I can become world champion.”