By Marco Bratusch

The European cruiserweight title at stake for unbeaten 28-year-old titleholder Ysves Ngabu (18-0, 13 KOs) and his veteran countryman Geoffrey Battelo (32-5, 28 KOs) has been rescheduled for January 27th in Deurne, Belgium, according to Antwerp Boxing Academy that will promote the bout. The crossroad contest for the two Belgian punchers was already on the map a few months ago, but Battelo suffered a back injury due to a car crash and Ngabu went on winning the vacant title stopping late replacement Tamas Lodi last June.

Tomorrow night in Leicester, United Kingdom, European junior welterweight champion Anthony Yigit (20-0-1, 7 KOs) will take on local fighter Jos Hughes (15-2-1, 6 KOs) for the second defense of the continental belt in an event promoted by Cyclone Promotions in collaboration with Sauerland Events. Both fighters tipped the scale at 139 pounds a few hours ago. Channel 5 is going to broadcast the fight live in the UK as TV10 will do the same in Sweden, Yigit’s homeland, beginning at 11 PM local time.

Last week, a bunch of EBU sanctioned fights were assigned to promoters willing to stage them after the customary purse bid ceremonies. Italian promoter Boxe Loreni earned the right to stage the European Union (EU) cruiserweight contest for his boxer, and official challenger, Fabio Turchi (12-0, 9 KOs), who will face titlist Alexandru Jur (16-1, 6 KOs), from Romania, with the bout that is likely to take place on February 2nd in Florence, Italy, which is Turchi’s hometown.

In the meanwhile, the 24-year-old Turchi is about to take on Demetrius Banks (9-3, 4 KOs) over eight rounds tonight in an Evander Holyfield’s Real Deal Promotion card in Providence, Rhode Island, televised by CBS Sports Network, which represents an awaited debut on the American soil for the young southpaw puncher. The bill is topped by a 10 rounder featuring featherweights Toka Kahn Clary (23-1 16 KOs) and 23-year-old John Vincent Moralde (19-0, 10 KOs), from the Philippines.

The purse bid for the anticipated clash between the two young Swedish heavyweights Adrian Granat (14-1, 13 KOs) and Otto Wallin (18-0, 10 KOs) is now set for December 20th in Rome, according to the EBU, as the boxers’ representatives could not seal a deal during the private negotiations window.The bout will be valid for the vacant European Union (EU) heavyweight belt and is going to represent a remarkable event for the Swedish boxing.

The vacant European Union light-heavyweight title which was expected to take place last Friday in Rome, Italy, suddenly fell apart as Italian-Albanian co-challenger Orial Kolaj (18-5, 12 KOs) fractured a finger of his left hand a couple of days before the bout against Mustafa Chadlioui (11-2-2, 7 KOs). Oddly enough, it was not the first time this bout was postponed and it’s not the first time either that the brawler resident in Rome is forced to pull out of a fight with short notice claiming injuries. However, Roundzero promotions presented medical certification to the EBU offices for its boxer and Kolaj will be able to keep his position. According to the aforementioned promoter, the bout is going to be rescheduled for February 2nd in Rome and apparently becomes a doubleheader, co-featured by another European Union (EU) title on the card, this one between local boxer Valerio Ranaldi (13-1-1, 7 KOs) and Spaniard Adasat Rodriguez (16-6-2, 10 KOs) in the super middleweight division, a fight that was originally set for December 15th.

The European female junior lightweight queen, Khatarina Thanderz (7-0, 2 KO) will be defending her belt on February 10th in Norway against Russian Yulya Kutsenko (7-0-1, 3 KOs). Specific location and details are yet to be communicated.

Again Roundzero Promotions, notionally very active, won as the only bidder the right for staging the fight between Pasquale Di Silvio (21-9-2, 6 KOs), the European Union (EU) lightweight challenger, and champion Marvin Petit (21-1-1, 10 KOs), aged 26 and promoted by Malamine Koné. Let’s see whether the French counterpart agrees to take the risk.

Spanish promoter Rimer Box won the right to stage the rematch between Marc Vidal (10-1-4, 4 KOs), the current European featherweight champion, and mandatory challenger Sergio Blanco (23-4-1, 6 KOs). The pair squared off last July in Castellbisbal, Spain, for the then-vacant belt, but the split decision in favor of Vidal was so close in the eyes of the EBU board that Blanco was appointed in the mandatory position again. Rimer Box offered 13,400 Euros for this contest, while Gallego Prada Promociones presented a bid of 4,500 Euros.

Earlier this week, Boxe Loreni was the only bidder and secured the right to stage the fight of Carmine Tommasone (17-0, 5 KOs) against 26-year-old co-challenger Kamil Laszczyk (24-0, 8 KOs), for the vacant European Union featherweight belt. No date nor venue has been released yet by the winning promoter for this interesting crossroad between two undefeated boxers with different boxing styles.