Born in Germany on October 5, 1978.

Renowed amateur boxer in his country, he obtained 95 wins and 5 loses.

Debuted as professional in 1999 with a win and remained winning for 27 more fights.

In 2009 he conquered the Interim Semi Heavyweight of the WBO and became regular months later. Successfully defended in December of the same year. He was stripped in 2011 for not defending his title.

With 42 fights won, he faced Marcus Oliveira on December 14, 2013, whom he beat him by UD to get the then vacant WBA 175 lbs title.

He has defended 5 times so far and is the mandatory challenger Sergey Kovalev.