Champion Klitschko aiming for clear victory as he prepares for Thompson

Vladimir Klitschko will put his IBF and WBO heavyweight titles on the line against Tony Thompson in Hamburg

'It is my goal to win as clearly as possible. And that means early and by KO.'

It will be a special fight for Klitschko (50-3, 44 KOs) who returns to the
place where he started his professional boxing career 12 years ago.

'It is great to be back in Hamburg,' he revealed. 'I have so many wonderful memories and after Kiev this city is my second home.'

Thompson will be no stranger to the local fans following his fifth-round TKO
victory over German heavyweight Luan Krasniqi in their WBO title eliminator last
summer.

The 36-year-old American (31-1, 19 KOs) is brimming with confidence ahead of
his biggest fight.

'Klitschko's time is over,' he said.

'I will beat him, just like I beat Krasniqi. I will put him under pressure from the first round on.

'I will try to get him off balance and attack his chin.'

Saturday will not be the first time the two fighters have met in the ring. Back in 2003, they briefly sparred against each other - something Klitschko claims not to recall.

I can't remember Thompson,' he said.

'But I called my former coach Fritz Sdunek and he said we made sparring together.'

Thompson, meanwhile, was left unimpressed by Klitschko's apparent weak memory.

'That he cannot remember me is his problem - I will show him in the ring,' he said.

'I have improved 100 times since then. The fight will not last the distance.'

Thompson's confidence has not gone unnoticed in Klitschko's camp, and coach Emmanuel Steward wants his fighter to set the tone early in the bout.

Steward said: 'You have to hit him hard quickly so that he loses his confidence.'

'He needs to realise that he is in the ring with a boxer from a different league.

'Thompson believes after Krasniqi he can now beat up the second guy in Germany. That is why the first round is so important. Thompson needs to panic.'