EUROPEAN BOXING NEWS

Posted on | July 4, 2008 | No Comments

July 4, Halle / Westfalen:

Both men looked perfectly fit and trim but I give the weigh-in procedure this afternoon at the Gerry Weber Stadion on points to Randy Griffin, who came in at 72,4 kg / 159.5 lbs and with a very confident look about him. WBA champ Felix Sturm, 72,3 / 159,25, looked a bit tense. There were no staredown as the two smiled and posed for the cameras. Hardly anyone outside of people involved with the promotion in some capacity attended the weighin. The Gerry Weber World includes a big conference hotel, in – and outdoor arenas located in a small town not far from Bielefeldt.

The WBA will keep Danilo Haussler as mandatory challenger for its supermiddle champ Mikkel Kessler despite protests from Team Palle. Palle have argued that Haussler, # 3 in the WBA world ratings but only # 11 in the EBU european ratings, just isn´t good enough to fight Kessler. It appears that no official protest were made to the WBA (or was accepted) though and thus the earlier decision stuck. Kessler vs Haussler is to go ahead inside 120 days from June 21. In case of purse bids the split will be 60-40 in favour of the champion.

WBA jr welter champ Andreas Kotelnik, promoted by Universum have tentatively agreed to take on almost (Spotlight Boxing) stablemate René Maidana. The two met in Buenos Aires and posed for cameras. But first Maidana is set to fight in July in Argentina while Kotelnik appears to be set to defend the title September 13.

EBU welter champ Jackson Osei Bonsu have a busy fall coming up. First the mandatory defence of the title against Jan Zaveck must take place. Bonsu wants the fight – postponed from June due to a back injury to Zaveck – to take place in August to pave the way for a planned US debut in September. November 11 in Antwerp is then booked for a major promotion, perhaps a world title eliminator.

French veteran Mamadou Thiam have been signed up Danish manager Robert Larsen, who also promoted Thiam´s last fight: a sixth round knockout loss at the hands of Evans Ashira. Thiam is now set to fight Predrag Radosevic August 1 in Budva in Montenegro.

Italian veteran – multiple champ at welter and jr middle – Michele Piccirillo keeps busy with a fight against Hungarian Janos Petrovics July 18 in Civitanova Marche. The show is headlined by WBC female fly champ Simona Galassi.

Official challenger for EBU middle champ Karo Murat is Russian Dennis Inkin, who due to injuries and illness have seen a WBC eliminator against Carl Froch go up in smoke.

ABU lightweight champ Sam Rukundo have an offer to defend against Ray Narh September 6 in Ghana.