By Marco Bratusch
Former WBA “regular” 168-pound beltholder Tyron Zeuge (23-1-1, 13 KOs) will be fighting against Adan Silvera (10-1, 4 Kos) for the vacant European Union (EU) super middleweight title on May 18th in Germany, on a specific site and venue still to be announced by his promoter Agon Sport, which finalized an agreement with Silvera’s handlers last week. Zeuge won the WBA secondary title in 2016 stopping Giovanni DeCarolis in their anticipated rematch in Potsdam, Germany, leaving the belt two years later to Britain’s Rocky Fielding after three successful defenses.
European junior welterweight champion Joe Hughes (17-3-1, 7 KOs) is going to make a voluntary defense against Robbie Davis jr (17-1, 12 Kos) on March 30th at Echo Arena in Liverpool, United Kingdom, in a Matchroom Boxing event. Hughes won the vacant belt clearly outboxing Andrea Scarpa in Florence, Italy, last November. On the same bill, former WBO world titlist Liam Smith and former European champion Sam Eggington are pitted against one another for an awaited junior middleweight showdown to deliver a classic boxer vs. puncher kind of fight. Smith, who was the only brother of the Smith boxing family not to be part of the Matchroom Boxing’s roster yet after his brothers Callum, Stephen and Paul, looks the more durable, skilled and experienced man going into this fight, and differently to Eggington he can be considered a full-fledged 154-pounder. However, Eggington is a hungry brawler who can chin-check his foe – and he will definitely try to.
Two French fighters as the 36-year-old veteran Howard Cospolite (17-6-3, 6 Kos) and undefeated boxer Dylan Charrat (17-0-1, 4 KOs) are set to fight again for the vacant European Union (EU) 154-lbs title on May 4th in France, in a Univent-promoted card. Their first encounter of last October ended with a split-draw decision, leaving the title still without an owner.
Jordy “The Gipsy” Weiss (22-0, 3 KO), the current European Union (EU) welterweight champion, is expected to face his mandatory challenger Jussi Koivula (24-5-1 9 KOs), from Finland, on April 26th in Laval, France, in a Europrom card.
Italian junior lightweight Michael Magnesi (13-0, 5 KOs), promoted by BBT Promotion, and Spaniard hard-hitting prospect Jon Fernandez (17-1, 15 KOs), aged 23 and promoted by Maravilla Box in co-promotion with DiBella Entertainment, are likely set to collide for the vacant European Union (EU) 130-pound belt, with the purse bid set for March 20th in Rome. Initially, Magnesi was expected to face John Carter Martinez in late February for the same title, but the Spanish co-challenger got injured at the nose during a sparring session and was no longer in condition to fight, needing some time to recover. Before making considerations and decisions on the possible fight against Fernandez, which would be a big step-up for the 24-year-old boxer, Magnesi is expected to take on Ruddy Encarnacion in Rome on March 24th, for the vacant IBF International belt.
Last Saturday in Magdeburg, Germany, European heavyweight king Agit Kabayel (19-0, 13 KOs) outpointed Ukraine’s Andriy Rudenko (32-4, 20 KOs) over twelve rounds to convincingly retain his continental belt for the third time. The 26-year-old Kabayel banked a comfortable, unanimous decision victory with scorecards of 119-108, 117-110 and 116-111 over his experienced foe, in an SES Boxing headliner fight. Now Kabayel looks on a collision course with 28-year-old Swedish boxer Otto Wallin (20-0, 13 KOs), who is in the mandatory position. However, the rangy southpaw Wallin, trained by Joe Gamache, just signed a promotional deal with Dmitriy Salita and already has 10-round fight scheduled for April 13th at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, against Nick Kisner on the undercard of the historic Claressa Shields vs Cristina Hammer undisputed middleweight fight.
Next Saturday in Milan, Italy, unbeaten super middleweight Daniele “Toretto” Scardina (15-0, 14 KOs) is making his hometown comeback against Finland’s Henri Kekalainen (11-5, 5 KOs) at Superstudio Più fashion venue. The bout is sanctioned for a vacant IBF International 168-pound belt. Scardina normally lives and trains out of Miami Beach, Florida, at the famous 5th Street Gym. The boxing event is a co-promotion of Matchroom Boxing Italy and Opi Since 82, with DAZN Italia to be streaming live the full card. Also on that bill, Maxim Prodan (15-0, 14 KOs) is going to take on Belgium’s Steve Jamoye (25-6-2, 5 KOs) at welterweights and Vissia Trovato (12-1, 5 KOs) will challenge Mexican Erika Cruz Hernandez (9-1, 3 KOs) for the vacant WBC Silver 126-lbs belt.