(Picture credit: Public Address) By Jason Kim: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko was a little amused at seeing the motivational trick his challenger Mariusz Wach has been using to get himself psyched up for their fight on Saturday night in Hamburg, Germany. Wach, 32, has been pasting Wladimir’s picture on his pads and then seemingly punching Wladimir in the face over and over again while he trained for their fight.

Wladimir talked about this as their final press conference on Wednesday, saying “Wach and his coach making a little fun by putting my face on the pads and hitting my face many times…However, in the ring on Saturday, he will face the real Wladimir Klitschko, not just images on the pads.”

Wladimir will be looking to punish the 6’7 1/2″ Wach and take him out if possible. Wach may find it a lot more difficult to land his shots against the real Wladimir on Saturday as opposed to the images that were taped to the pads. That doesn’t mean that Wladimir can’t be touched by Wach’s punches. He’s someone that can be hit but Wach is going to have to let his shots go and not just stand around looking to avoid Wladimir’s big shots like most of his opponents have been doing recently.

If you look at the fighters that have had success against Wladimir in the last – Lamon Brewster, Samuel Peter, Corrie Sanders and Ross Puritty – those guys took the fight to him and weren’t afraid to get hit. Sanders was cautious but he charged in he had Wladimir down on the canvas badly hurt.

Wach has similar power but he’s got to make sure uses it because if he waits too long he’ll get worn down or stopped by Wladimir’s big right hand or left hook. Just sitting on the outside can be bad for Wach because Wladimir’s jab has a wearing affect on his opponents. Wach hasn’t been hit a lot in his fights because of the poor opposition he’s faced.