05.06.05 – Hamburg – WBO light heavyweight champion Zsolt Erdei will make the next defense of his title on July 2nd against Frenchman Mehdi Sahnoune. With his fifth world title fight the 31-year-old Erdei will headline an event of Universum Box-Promotion at Color Line Arena of Hamburg. The contest will be televised live by ZDF and by RTL Hungary..
“I’m glad I got Sahnoune as opponent because this guy is just as good as Tiozzo who defeated Dariusz Michalczewski”, Erdei said. “Sahnoune suits me because he has an offensive fighting stlye which makes him vulerable for my counters. I believe I will win because I have the better reflexes.”
Erdei, a former world champion in the amateurs, is undefeated as a pro with a record of 22-0 and 13 knockouts. The Hamburg based Hungarian captured the WBO title on January 17, 2004, with a clear cut unanimous decision (118:110, 118:110, 117:111) over Julio Cesar Gonzalez who dethroned longtime champion Dariusz Michalczewski four months earlier.
Since that time Erdei defended the title twice against strong double mandatory Hugo Hernan Garay in two explosive battles and made another defense against Alejandro Lakatus who he outscored clearly in front of his home crowd in Budapest.
The internet database Boxrec.com ranks Erdei third at light heavyweight – very close behind Antonio Tarver and Glencoffee Johnson. As Tarver and Johnson are holding no titles this makes Erdei the highest ranked world champion at 175 lb.
The 29-year-old Mehdi Sahnoune, 31-1 (27), is a former world champion as he held the WBA title at light heavyweight in 2003. He won it from Bruno Girard on August 3, 2003, and lost it seven months later to Silvio Branco. Since his loss to the Italian the Frenchman won seven fights straight.
„Sahnoune is the perfect match for Zsolt“, said coach Fritz Sdunek. „This time we will fine tune Zsolt’s shape with a little bit psychological work. I want to rule out any distraction.”
Tickets available between 18 Euro and 254 Euro.
Ticket Hotlines:
Universum Box-Promotion
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You can also order your tickets online on www.boxing.de