By Per Ake Persson: IBF supermiddle champ Lucian Bute is almost on for a voluntatary defence against Dane Mads Larsen with date and site to be determined. No contracts are signed yet though and surprisingly the final hurdle to make the fight happening appears to be Larsen. Chris Meyer, Sauerland´s CEO, tells sporten.dk in Denmark that Bute has accepted to fight Mads but that Larsen is still asking for too much money. Meyer then says time is running out..
One of the things that makes it a rush could be the purse bids January 6 for an IBF eliminator between Librado Andrade and another Sauerland fighter, Vitaly Tsypko of Ukraine. Should Larsen not accept the conditions to fight Bute it´s difficult to see Tsypko doing the same as he then avoids a dangerous eliminator and can go directly to a world title fight.
WBA welter champ Yuri Nuzhenko is in negotiations for a Ukrainian megafight against WBA I/C ruler Vyacheslav Senchenko. Nuzhenko is promoted by K 2 East in Kiev while Senchenko is backed by Union Boxing Team in Donetsk. A Nuzchenko-Senchenko fight could go ahead in Donetsk in March. Senchenko is also official challenger for EBU titleholder Rafael Jackiewicz.
Nadia “the Beauty Beast” Raoui´s rematch against WIBA fly queen Eileen Olzewski that was scheduled for January 24 in Riesa is off after the champion was injured in training.
WBO I/C welter champ Christian Bladt´s defence against Italian Sven Paris is now on again after two postponements. Bladt-Paris goes ahead January 30 in Frosinone.
Arena´s Cuban heavyweight Odlanier Solis makes his US debut January 9 in Primm, NV, and will now face Kevin Burnett. Solis started his career in sensational fashion but have of recently been more human. Stablemate Yuriorkis Gamboa headline in what is the final step before facing Elio Rojas for the interim WBC featherweight title. Gamboa is in against Roger Gonzales.
Former WBA supermiddle challenger Dimitri Sartison continues the way back with an eight-rounder against Russian Vasily Andriyanov January 10 in Magdeburg on the undercard to Universum´s Hungarian evening at the Boerdeland Hall headlined by WBO lightheavy king Zsolt Erdei. On the same bill Thomas Ulrich returns at cruiser and face fellow-German Armin Dollinger, who comes in fresh off of an upset stoppage of Kai Kurzawa.
German lightheavy Juergen Braehmer was all set for an eight-rounder against Rubin Williams January 17 in Duesseldorf less than eight weeks after challenging Hugo Hernan Garay for the WBA title in a very tough (and good) fight. Braehmer however was injured by a piece of glass New Year´s Eve in Schwerin and had to be stitched.
Russian cruiser Aleksander Alekseev, promoted by Universum, square off against Argentinian Victor Emilio Ramirez for the WBO interim title January 17 on the Duesseldorf bill. Alekseev, 16-0 (15), is one of the brightest talents in Europe.
JOEY GILBERT OPENS CAMP IN SAN DIEGO PREPARES FOR RENO SHOWDOWN WITH JESSE BRINKLEY
SAN DIEGO, CA (January 2, 2009) Super middleweight contender Joey Gilbert has opened camp in San Diego in preparation for his “CIVIL WAR” showdown with Jesse Brinkley on Saturday, February 14th at the Reno Events Center.
“I’ve trained here numerous times, the weather and the facilities are very conducive to a great camp,” said the confident Gilbert.
Working with trainer Richie Ortiz and strength and conditioning coach Matt Pendola, Gilbert has been in serious training mode since September.
“I knew this fight was on the horizon back then and have been training in San Diego and Big Bear with Coach Ortiz on a continuous basis. Now we’ll focus more on Brinkley and preparing for what we need to do to be successful on February 14th.
I’ll also be working in San Diego with (UFC star) Diego Sanchez. He’s got a big fight coming up at the same time and we work very well together. He’s a world class athlete and training with him always pushes me.”
Although he will be training in the scenic, beautiful city of San Diego , Gilbert was quick to point out what the task at hand was, “Yep, it’s nice down here on the ocean, but this fight was appropriately titled “CIVIL WAR” and that’s what the fans in Reno should expect.”
Tickets for “CIVIL WAR”, headlined by the 12 round super middleweight showdown between Jesse Brinkley and Joey Gilbert, are priced at $253.25, $153.25, $78.25 and 43.25 and are on sale now at the Reno Events Center box office and through Ticketmaster. A five dollar discount is available on tickets priced at $43.25 for students, active military, and police and fire department personnel with valid ID. Doors at the Reno Events Center will open the night of the event at 6pm, with the first bell at 7pm.
“CIVIL WAR” is presented by Las Vegas based TKO BOXING Promotions and Reno’s “Let’s Get It On” Promotions.
Formed in early 2008, Chet Koerner’s Las Vegas based TKO BOXING Promotions stable includes; super middleweight Joey Gilbert, middleweights Bastie “THE BEAST” Samir and James Countryman, junior middleweight Anthony Thompson, lightweights Rolando Reyes, Raul Tovar and Terrance Crawford, the sister team of Katy and Emily Klinefelter, featherweight Carney Bowman and super bantamweight Rafael Valenzuela.
Further information on TKO Boxing Promotions can be viewed at www.tkoboxingpromotions.com
Reno, Nevada based “Let’s Get It On” Promotions was founded in 2000 by legendary boxing referee Mills Lane . In early 2005 he was joined by sons Terry and Tommy in the operations of the company. Along with Jesse Brinkley, “Let’s Get It On” Promotions also promotes undefeated lightweight Bayan Jargal as well as highly regarded brothers Tyler and Derek Hinkey. They have consistently promoted world class boxing events in northern Nevada .
Further information on “Let’s Get It On” Promotions can be viewed at www.letsgetitonboxing.com