Rabchenko won 21 professional matches (16 by knockout) to gain the title of European Champion on June 16th. He finally defeated Ryan Rhodes (five-time British champion and twice European champion) by knockout in the 7th round.
Coach Sergey Pytalev and Rabchenko, 26, recently gave a press conference. Rabchenko explained, “Before the fight, I did a lot of treadmill training, alongside strengthening my punch, speed and endurance. It is great honour for me to have been trained by Ricky Hatton for the final match (who beat eminent Kostya Tszyu). Ricky didn’t change my training methods radically but focused on my back muscles, increased my strength training and gave me more sparring practise.”
Commenting on the championship fight, Mr. Hatton answered simply, “His knockout was made with a master punch to the liver area.” British Ricky Hatton, who has been promoting Sergey Rabchenko for the past year, sees true talent and the prospect for further growth in the Belarusian athlete.
Rabchenko does not conceal the fact that his main goal is to become World Champion. He is content to work steadily however, coming ever closer to the title.
