13.03.06 – By Per Ake Persson: Sauerland Event have today put out a press release offering newly crowned WBA middle champ Felix Sturm one million Euro for a showdown with IBF ruler Arthur Abraham August 19 in Germany. Abraham will make a voluntary defence of the title May 13 in Zwickau..
French jr welter Souleyman M´Baye, the WBA # 1 contender, headlines Elite Boxpromotion´s inaugural show March 31 in Potsdam. Swedes Tonton Semakala and Vatche Wartanian are also on the bill and are already in Berlin training under Irishman Paddy Fitspatrick. WBA cruiser champ Virgil Hill, in Hamburg Saturday night for Masoe vs Sturm, is rumored to be the secret guest when Elite open their new gym.
Opponent for WBA heavy champ Nikolai Valuev June 3 in Mannheim? Several insiders say Owen Beck is the one…
The WBA held an executive meeting in Hamburg during the Masoe vs Sturm weekend and there were representatives from most of Europe´s main promoters on hand and also from Don King Productions.
It now seems certain that WBO 175 lb champ Zsolt Erdei defends the title May 6 and then goes for an unification fight against WBA titleholder Fabrice Tiozzo with July 29 as working date and Lyon as site.
Frenchman Jackson Chanet was confirmed as mandatory challenger for WBA supermiddle ruler Mikkel Kessler. At the same time Michel Acaries, Chanet´s promoter, made it clear that his man needs more experience which means the Dane gets the chance for a few voluntary defences. Mogens Palle feels William Joppy is a suitable opponent for Kessler in a planned May defence.
There are big questionmarks surrounding WBA welter champ Luis Collazzo and his defence against German Oktay Urkal as there now seems to be visa problems for Urkal – problems that might stem from Oktay´s fight against Kostya Tziu back in 2001.
Universum heavy Luan Krasniqi was removed from his position as mandatory challenger for EBU champ Paolo Vidoz at his own request. Luan wants to shoot directly for a world title. Stablemate Sinan Samil Sam have taken over Krasniqi´s position.
48-year old, going on 49, Italian Gianfranco Rosi, a multiple world champ back in the 90´s, defends the IBF Mediterranean middleweight title March 25 in Drochtersen, Germany. This is a show sanctioned by the GBA, a non-EBU member. It´s likely that there will be some political turmoil surrounding this event.
Ex-WBA bantam king Johnny Bredahl takes on Russian Alexander Fedorov in his comeback March 30 in Copenhagen with the vacant WBO I/C title at stake. In the co-headliner Martin Kristjansen defends the WBO I/C 135 lb belt. There will be eleven fights on the bill.
Sauerland Event´s heavy Rene Dettweiler will be among Wladimir Klitschko´s sparringpartners as he prepares for the Chris Byrd fight April 22 on the island of Mallorca. French champ Steve Herelius will also spar with Klitschko.
German tabloid Bild Zeitung on the Masoe vs Sturm fight: “Unser neuer Weltmeister: Clever oder Feige?”. A clever man or a coward? Sturm´s running in the last two didn´t sit down well with anyone watching and Felix pretty much ruined a solid performance with it. Sturm confirms in the paper that he was hurt in the third – but from there on he dominated Masoe until he began to coast in the tenth.
The pro/am event scheduled for Porvoo, Finland, for Saturday night had to be cancelled after a bombthreat. No word on who did it.