09.07.05 – Per-Åke Persson: Spaniard Ivan Pozo won the vacant EBU 112 lb title last night (July 8) in Vigo with an unanimous points win over Italian Andrea Sarritzu. The judges scores: 117-111, 116-111 and 116-111. Fred Galiana, colourful character if there ever was one, passed away July 4 at the age of 74 due to pneumonia. He also suffered from Alzheimer´s.. Galiana had about 209 profights, won the Spanish titles at 135, 140 and 147 and also the EBU featherweight crown by stopping Johnny Famechon in Paris in 1955. Galiana was also a flamenco dancer, an actor and mixed with the likes of Ava Gardner and Ernest Hemingway.
OPI 2000 promotes in Campione d´Italia July 22 with Luciano Abis vs Nicolas Guisset for the IBF Int´l 147 lb title as headliner. Cruiser Pietro Aurino takes on Ramdane Serdjane in the chief support.
Sauerland Event´s jr middle Alexander Sipos squares off against once-touted Frenchman Christophe Canclaux July 16 on the undercard to Abraham vs Eastman (WBA I/C 160). Heavyweight Cengiz Koc is in against American Marcus Rhode.
New weight divisions might not be what boxing needs but the European Boxing Union might introduce jr flyweight (108 lbs) to Europe and also a brandnew Junior Cruiser class with 185 lbs as maxweight.
When Universum promoted in Pula, Croatia, June 18, most of the country´s great boxing stars such as Zeljco Mavrovic and Marijan Benes were ringside but Mate Parlov – possibly the best of them all – didn´t attend. Parlov, who these days owns a café in Pula, didn´t attend. Instead Mate, interviewed in a daily paper, lashed out hard against professional boxing. -It´s not a sport anymore, it´s become a circus with all these titles and champions, stated the former EBU and WBC ruler, who also challenged for the then relatively new WBC cruiser title. He also won Olympic Gold in 72 representing Yugoslavia.
Famed trainer Emanuel Steward predicted in Norwegian paper VG yesterday that he had a future champ in jr welter Geir Inge Jorgensen, who´s been training in the States of lately, first in NYC with Vivian Harris and then in Detroit. Jorgensen is to fight tonight – July 9 – in Grands Rapids, MI, but reports on his homepage (gijorgensen.com) that no opponent weighed in. Stewart have quite a history with Norwegians having also trained Helga Risoy, Ole Klemetsen and Rune Lillebuen.
Aarhus, Denmark, based Kenyan middle Evans Ashira have been to Berlin to spar with Arthur Abraham.
NYC based Swedish middle Manjie Conteh says he´ll be back in August on a show in Huntington, NY. Conteh won his last outing at the same venue.