Felix Sturm: "I'm excited about Friday. It's great to be in Dusseldorf and I am in great shape. I had an excellent camp. Some of my sparring partners were able to clone his fighting style and I'm really prepared to fight a guy as unorthodox as Sam. The fight against him will still be very difficult but I'll prevent him from getting into his rhythm. I need to dictate the pace and the distance and I'm sure I'll do just that. Sam is a great challenge and I haven't looked past him. I'm completely focused on him. I want to become champion again and I'll make the first step towards that goal on Friday night. The fans are in for a real treat."
Sam Soliman: "I'm happy to be in Germany. This is a tremendous fight. I know I'm going to have lots of fun in the ring; boxing is fun for me. We had a great camp and I won't let him get into the way of my goal - to become middleweight champion of the world."
Fritz Sdunek, Sturm trainer: "I was with Felix for the whole camp and he is in tip-top shape. He will have an answer to everything Sam Soliman will bring on Friday. This won't be an easy fight, but Felix, I'm sure, will win this convincingly."
Susi Kentikian: "It's great to be back in Dusseldorf, despite the disappointment last December. I was looking forward to a rematch with Carina Moreno, but she injured herself and now I'm up against Anastasia Toktaulova. I beat her before in 2008 and I know she'll want to get revenge. But she won't get it. I'm ready for Friday."