By Marco Bratusch
In a crowded super middleweight division, the vacant European 168-pound will be staged on June 2nd in Germany on a SES Boxing Promotions night since promoters of Stanislav Kashtanov (36-2, 21 KOs) and Robin Krasniqi (47-5, 17 KOs) have come to terms, skipping the today’s purse bid for this contest.
The purse bid for Swedish southpaw boxer Anthony Yigit (21-0-1, 7 KOs) versus EBU official challenger Franck Petitjean (20-4-3, 3 KOs) is set for next week, specifically March 12th at noon. The European 140-pound champion Yigit was scheduled to fight against unbeaten Russian Ivan Baranchyk on a rich Lou DiBella promoted bill in Deadwood, South Dakota, on Friday as a final IBF eliminator, but he fell ill few days ago according to his promoter Sauerland Events.
Unbeaten French lightweight Marvin Petit (23-1-1, 16 KOs), the former European Union (EU) title holder who was expected to defend his belt in Rome on March 16th against official challenger Pasquale Di Silvio, has finally been appointed as the new mandatory challenger for Finland’s Edis Tatli (30-2, 10 KOs) major European title. Parties are already in talks over the realization of this bout. In the meantime, another co-challenger will be named soon by the EBU in order to match Di Silvio (21-9-2, 6 KOs) for the now-vacant EU belt. Per sources, the fighter might be fellow countryman Gianluca Ceglia (14-3, 2 KOs).
The vacant European welterweight championship, at stake for co-challengers Kerman Lejarraga (24-0, 19 KOs) and once-beaten British Bradley Skeete (27-1, 12 KOs) has been rescheduled for April 28th in Bilbao, northern Spain, instead of March 24th. The reason is a cut suffered by Spaniard’s Lejarraga over his left eyelid during his sparring routine later last week that will be forcing him to take some time off his specific training.
Spaniard Ruban Diaz (25-1-2, 16 KOs) has been appointed as the new mandatory champion for freshly-crowned European middleweight champion Kamil Szeremeta (17-0, 3 KOs) who won the belt in fashion two weeks ago in Rome with a second-round knockout victory over Italian Alessandro Goddi.
In the featherweight division, Carmine Tommasone has relinquished his position to fight for the vacant European Union (EU) belt because of an injury, with the EBU which has now called experienced Spaniard Andoni Gago (18-3-3, 6 KOs) the new co-challenger along with Polish boxer Kamil Laszczyk (24-0, 8 KOs) to take on one another for such title. The related purse bid is set for March 19th in Rome, unless the fighters’ handlers do not finalize a private deal by that date.
On next Saturday, fast-handed 32-year-old southpaw Cedric Vitu (46-2, 19 KOs), a former European champion, will take on undefeated, dangerous Argentinian Brian Castano (14-0, 10 KOs) at La Seine Musicale in France topping a card promoted by Ringstar France and televised live on Canal Plus. Castano’s WBA “regular” jr middleweight belt will be at stake – he owned the interim version that changed its status lately. It definitely appears a tough fight for Vitu, the local counter-puncher, who will have to fight a very careful match, counting on his straight punches, high workrate and movement. Castano, a talented crowd-pleaser, knows how to step through the distance at the right time and work from the inside landing hard shots with both hands. Besides, he is not worried to fight away from home as he already beat a world-class French fighter in his homeland last year when he outlanded Michel Soro for a split decision victory.