Charr hunts boxing title after hip surgery

BERLIN: Despite being shot in the stomach and having a double hip-replacement operation in the last two years, Germany’s Manuel Charr is determined to become a world heavyweight champion on Saturday.
Charr, 33, faces 40-year-old giant Russian Alexander Ustinov in Oberhausen and is adamant he will leave the ring with the vacant WBA world heavyweight belt.Britain’s Anthony Joshua is the reigning WBA ‘Super’ heavyweight champion, meaning that this fight is effectively for a secondary world title.
“I’m going to be world champion - that’s a promise,” Charr said at the pre-fight press conference, having won 30 of his bouts with four defeats.
His most famous clash was in 2012 when he was stopped by ex-WBC champion Vitali Klitschko in the fourth round of his only previous world title fight. The Beirut-born fighter, who was brought up in Berlin and Essen, has suffered recent setbacks which could have ended the career of a less-determined boxer.In September 2015, he was left fighting for his life after being shot in the stomach following an altercation at a kebab restaurant in Essen.