By Marco Bratusch
At today’s EBU purse bid, Spain’s promoter MGZ Promotions outbid Italy’s Boxe Loreni literally by a wad of Euros, offering 15,150 to top 15,080. That means the European Union (EU) junior featherweight title between mandatory challenger Aritz Pardal (12-2-1, 10 KOs) and 25-year-old title holder Luca Rigoldi (16-1-1, 6 KOs) will be staged in Spain, on a date yet to be announced. The contest will be valid as Rigoldi’s second defense of his belt.
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One week ago in Rome, Italy, other two purse bids went on at the EBU headquarters. Both bids saw an only participant, who offered little money to earn the right to stage the related bout.
Boxe Loreni, from Italy, won the right to stage the fight between southpaw puncher Fabio Turchi (14-0, 11 KOs) and Briton Luke Watkins (13-0, 9 KOs) for the vacant European Union (EU) cruiserweight belt. However, not only are Turchi’s handlers working on his next fight in the US before it, possibly on June 2nd in Atlantic City, on the other side even Watkins’ people seem to be in talks with Matchroom Boxing in order to put on a fight against Lawrence Okolie. As a result, this EU championship is not clear when it is going to see the light.
And a similar situation is what is happening, more or less, in the middleweight division. British Warrior Boxing won the right on behalf of his fighter and European Union (EU) co-challeger Elliot Matthews (20-0-1, 9 KOs) to step into the ring with Frenchman Karim Achour (26-4-3, 4 KOs). The British venture offered 6,000 Euros as the only bidder, including in its envelope a potential date of June 30th at York Hall in London, UK, to stage the contest. But in the meantime, Achour has agreed to fight two-time world title challenger David Lemieux in Laval, Canada, on May 26th. That’s why even this EU bout appears to be in jeopardy.
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Last week in Cardiff, UK, local boxer Ashley Brace (8-0-1, 3 KOs) won a wide unanimous decision over Romanian Xenia Jorneac (8-2, 3 KOs) over ten two-minutes rounds to win the vacan EBU female junior bantamweight belt. The bout was the main event of a Sanigar Events promoted card at local Ice Arena.
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The anticipated vacant European (EBU) bout between flyweight sensation Andrew Selby versus former titleholder Vincent Legrand (26-0, 16 KOs) fell apart last week when the Welshman suffered a minor injury to his left hand. In order to save the April 28th boxing night at Salle Gayant in Douai, France, the EBU board approved little-known Peruvian-born Juan Hinostroza (7-8-1, 4 KOs), who got Spanish citizenship, as a late substitute to face the unbeaten southpaw Legrand. Hinostroza won the Spanish 115-pound belt last February halting Moncho Miras in eight rounds in La Coruna, Spain
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This Saturday, April 28 in Bilbao, Spain, an interesting EBU doubleheader is going to take place under the MGZ banner. Unbeaten welterweight southpaw Kerman Lejarraga (24-0, 19 KOs), the local boxer, will fight for the vacant European 147-pound title against British rangy boxer Bradley Skeete (27-1, 12 KOs), aged 30. As chief support, another local fighter as Andony Gago (18-3-3, 6 KOs) will take on undefeated late replacement Geoffrey Dos Santos (11-0) for the vacant European Union (EU) featherweight belt. Also on tha card, Gallego Prada promoted Isaac Real (18-3-1, 9 KOs), a former European titlist, will likely put on a battle as he is matched with Panama’s Azael Cosio (21-6-2, 18 KOs) for a WBC regional title in the junior middleweight division.
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Next Friday, April 27th in San Marzano, South Italy, former national champions Gianluca Ceglia and Pasquale Di Silvio are paired to fight for the vacant Europan Union (EU) lightweight belt. The latter is definitely more experinced and has fought all around Europe, facing a better opposition. However, Di Silvio is also 38-year-old now and perhaps Ceglia’s freshness can be a determiner in this evenly matched contest.
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On Thursday, April 26th in Sarcelles, France, Etoile Verte Production is going to stage the vacant WBC Mediterranean middleweight title between Billel Jkitou (9-0, 3 KOs) and Christian Arvelo Segura (11-2, 6 KOs) a Dominican Republic born boxer who is currently based in Italy.
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A very intriguing matchup looks to be confirmed for May 11 in Rome, Italy, where middleweights Mirko Geografo and Domenico Spada are set to collide for Spada’s national 160-pound title. This contest is drawn to be all about local dominance, representing a sheer clash of styles too. Geografo is a young, pretty accurate and skilled counterpuncher who, however, suffered some minor injuries last year that slowed down his carrer. He has also step up in weight recently from the junior middleweight division. Besides, he has never been tested at higher levels, and it seems debatable whether he can deal with a dirty, phisically stronger brawler like the vastly more experienced Domenico Spada, a former WBC interim title challenger. BBT Promotions of Davide Buccioni is going to promote the awaited night at Pala Gems in northern Rome.