Wladimir Klitschko and Jean Marc Mormeck met Monday at the Paris City Hall to promote their December 10th WBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight championship fight, held at the ESPIRIT Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. 39 year old Frenchman Mormeck is a former WBA/WBC cruiserweight champion, and is 3-0 as a heavyweight, with wins over Vinny Madalone, Fres Oquendo and Timur Ibragimov. 

Wladimir, younger brother of WBC heavyweight champ Vitali, will be making his second appearance in the ring in 2011, following his anticlimactic points win over Britain's David Haye in July. Klitschko v Haye was one of the most highly anticipated heavyweight fights in years, yet failed to live up to expectation, as both men, Haye in particular, showed too much respect for each others punching power. 

Guadeloupe born Mormeck (36-4, 22 KO's) remains a popular figure in French boxing due to his all action, aggressive style and knockout punch. A shade under 6', with a 74'' reach, Mormeck has kept himself to a trim 216 lbs in his three heavyweight bouts, giving him the physical dimensions of a young Mike Tyson, a fact that Klitschko picked up on in their press conference. 

''He is serious about this fight, he knows what he is talking about. I would compare him with Mike Tyson; he is never going backwards like David Haye. He knocked him (Haye) down. It's something I could not do'' said Klitschko.

Mormeck moved up to heavyweight in December 2009 after a two-year hiatus from boxing following a seventh round knockout loss to David Haye in November 2007 – a defeat that cost Mormeck his world championship belts. In a wildly thrilling fight, the powerfully built Mormeck floored Haye in the fourth round and looked on the verge of a knockout win, only for Haye come back and flatten him with a devastating right hand in the seventh round. 

While Mormeck was on his sabbatical from the ring, Haye was to unify the cruiserweight belts with a two round KO of WBO champ Enzo Maccarinelli in 2008 before launching his own successful assault on the heavyweight division. Haye defeated Nikolay Valuev for the WBA crown in 2009, and successfully defended it against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison. Haye lost his title in a disappointing display against Wladimir Klitschko in July of this year, and has since been true to his word, retiring on his 31st birthday two weeks ago. 

Haye was quick to criticize Klitschko for taking the fight with Mormeck, saying the bout would be ''one of the most unappealing heavyweight contests for many years'' although in fairness to the Frenchman, he is ranked 9th by the WBO and 10th by the WBA and IBF, and therefore more deserving of a title shot than Audley Harrison was. 

Mormeck certainly sounded confident that he was capable of doing the job of separating 35 year old Klitschko (56-3, 49 KO's) from his titles: 

''I want his belts,'' Mormeck said. ''If I want to get them, I'll have to smash his face. I've seen all his opponents, and when they get in the ring, I have the impression that they don't do what they need to do. They don't move forward. They don't take any risk.'' 

In reference to Klitschko's three stoppage losses, to Ross Purity (TKO'd in 11 in 1998) Corrie Sanders, (TKO'd in 2 in 2003) and Lamont Brewster (TKO'd in 5 in 2004), Mormeck said:

''He has lost three fights and each time he lost them without going the distance. He couldn't recover each time he got hit. That means he doesn't take those hits well.''

''I've already seen you in a bad shape quite a few times,'' said Mormeck, looking directly at Klitschko during the press conference. ''Wladimir has a glass chin that I will break.''

Cool as ever, the German based Ukrainian, who at 6'7'', with a reach of 82'' and weighing in at around 250 lbs, will have every possible physical advantage over Mormeck replied: 

''Everyone has a plan until they get hit. So you got a plan and then you're getting hit. Then the whole plan is just screwed up. So you can't really follow the plan. I can imagine what kind of game plan you could have for this fight. Boxing is a chess game. I'm definitely going to fight you, play chess with you in the ring and eventually make a checkmate.''

Klitschko, who will be making his sixteenth title defence in two reigns as champion went on:

''I'm taking Jean-Marc very seriously. He was fighting David Haye and he almost knocked him out. I was fighting David Haye and couldn't really land right shots. So I couldn't do the same thing that Jean-Marc did. I'm not expecting him to move backward like David Haye. That's not Jean-Marc's style. The only thing that he knows is move forward.''

Big Fight Odds: Wladimir Klitschko 1/80, Jean Marc Mormeck 14/1 bet365