European Boxing Update

By Marco Bratusch

Today at EBU offices, French boxing venture Europrom won the purse bid to stage the vacant European bantamweight championship at stake for co-challengers Lee Haskins (35-4, 14 KOs), a former IBF world titlist and two-time European champion, and Goerge Ory (9-2-1, 1 KO). Both men are left-handed boxers. Europrom’s offer was 30,300 Euros, the only one to be received by the EBU for this contest. No date or venue were released yet by the promoter.

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Jack Culcay (23-3, 11 KOs) will finally have his European Union (EU) chance in his new, middleweight division sooner than expected, as he will face Spaniard Adasat Rodriguez (17-7-2, 10 KOs) on June 9 in Liepzig, Germany, as chief support for the European (EBU) light-heavyweight SES Boxing’s in-house contest between titleholder Dominic Boesel (27-1, 10 KOs) and mandatory challenger Enrico Koelling (25-2, 8 KOs). Culcay was named co-challenger along with Briton Elliott Matthews with the purse bid already set but the opponent suffered a shoulder injury while training last week. The EBU Board so accepted to sanction the bout between Culcay and Rodriguez for the vacant belt, with the winner to take on Matthews next, who has now appointed official challenger.

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Last Saturday the feature bout of a Maravillabox promoted night in Elche, Spain, between European featherweight champion Marc Vidal (11-1-5, 5 KOs) and official challenger Kiko Martinez (38-8-2, 28 KOs) ended in a second round technical draw. Martinez was boxing on his front foot early on, while the taller Vidal mixed with him, trading heavy shots while moving backwards. It looked a tremendous fight at that point but Vidal was cut on his right eye at the end of round one. The former IBF world champion kept swinging his way in round two, cutting the ring off well with Vidal accepting the same kind of fight but struggling to deliver with the same effectiveness. The short, vicious hooks thrown by Martinez continued to find the target in round two in a high pace, intense brawl until the referee stopped the bout at the very beginning of round three following the ringside physician decision. Referee Massimilano Bianco considered the cut as the consequence of an accidental clash of heads, ruling it a technical draw between the two Spaniards. Former lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, who runs his boxing venture and managed Kiko Martinez, stated on social media that he did not see the headbutt and the cut might have caused by a legal punch.

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Last Friday at MBS Arena in Potsdam, Germany, 26-year-old Patrick Wojcicki (11-0-1, 4 KOs) kept his record unmarked outpointing Ronny Mittag (30-3-2, 15 KOs), picking up his IBF Inter-Continental title via unanimous decision. Mittag looked to be the bigger and more powerful man, tried to come forward all night to land something big, but was fairly outboxed by Wojcicki who could rely on faster hands, feet and better all-around skills. Besides that, Wojcicki was the busier man and held a clear control on the rhythm of the fight, stalking Mittag with his jabs and movements. Judges scorecards were 117-111 twice and 116-112.

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Unbeaten Welshman Jay Harris (12-0, 7 KOs) has been appointed as the new mandatory challenger for two-time European Union (EU) champion Mohammed Obbadi (16-1, 11 KOs), who won the belt early this month outpointing Aramis Torres in Florence, Italy. On paper, it looks a very interesting matchup and a solid challenge for the EU titlist.

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Sebastian Perez (9-0-1, 2 KOs) and Jacob Barreto (9-1, 4 KOs), two young Spanish fighters, were designated co-challengers for the vacant European Union (EU) bantamweight title. The purse bid for this contest has been already set for June 18 in Rome, whether parties will not reach an agreement before this date.

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In the featherweight division, Jesus Sanchez (9-1, 2 KO) has been named mandatory challenger for newly crowned European Union (EU) champion Andoni Gago (19-3-3, 6 KOs). Even these two fighters are from Spain. Sanchez defeated former European champion Dennis Ceylan via second-round TKO last March in Switzerland in a considerable upset, while Gago edged Frenchman Geoffrey Dos Santos one month ago after twelve good rounds, to earn the vacant belt.

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