Updates From Europe

Updates From Europe

By: Joel Arkin – April 14, 2017

 

EC Promotions, based out of Germany, will be putting on a boxing card, Friday, May 19th at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg Germany. A feature fight that night will be prospect, Mario Daser, taking a huge step up in competition, when he faces the un-retiring Ola Afolabi. Afolabi retired after losing to Marco Huck by 10th round TKO in February of 2016. However, boxing is a sport where retired fighters, get the itch to return, and find themselves back in the ring even after taking a lot of punishment and being past their prime. While Daser hasn’t fought top level competition. Ola will be a question mark. Can Daser exploit Afolabi’s weaknesses and win? It’s not something out of the question. However, Ola is a road warrior, and fighting in enemy territory is something he is known for. If this is a close fight, don’t be surprised if the judges give it to the prospect as he’s the hometown guy. On the same card, Christian Hammer returns to the ring. He is on a four-fight win streak, since being stopped by Tyson Fury. His last two wins being his most impressive, winning a split over Erkan Teper in October 2016 and then defeating David Price by TKO in round 7 back in February of this year. Karo Murat, known for losing his title to Bernard Hopkins some years back, will also be on the card.

There was supposed to be a purse bid between EBU light heavyweight champion, Robert Stieglitz and Erik Skoglund, however at the last minute, Skoglund bailed on the purse bid. Now Stieglitz will have to wait a few days until the EBU formally announces a new mandatory for Robert. Skoglund is looking in a different direction, as he is hoping to lock up a fight with secondary light heavyweight title holder, Nathan Cleverly. Cleverly owes a rematch to Juergen Braehmer. He defeated Braehmer by TKO last year when Juergen broke his hand and retired after the sixth round. Cleverly was given permission to take a fight before facing Braehmer in his owed rematch.

A card in France On May 6th will feature a trio of regional European title bouts. Christopher Rebrasse, who has faced some of the best European talent, will face Serhiy Demchenko, an Italian based Ukrainian for the EBU-EU super middleweight strap. Also, Hakim Zoulikha will face TBA. Also, Marvin Petit with face Jerobe Santana at lightweight.

The co-feature for the Abraham vs. Krasniqi card has been announced. Heavyweight Tom Schwarz, who is undefeated at 18-0, will battle Adnan Redzovic. While Redzovic is 17-1, most of his wins have come against subpar competition. His lone loss was by TKO against Arnold Gjergjaj back in October of 2014. The vacant WBO Intercontinental title will be on the line in this one.

My two cents for the week: While I am fascinated by Abraham vs. Krasniqi fight. I feel the loser will need to seriously reevaluate their career. Both fighters have had their fair share of chances and continue to get eliminator and mandatory positions, but after a while, you will need to know when it is time to hang it up. Arthur just turned 37 and has been pro since 2003. He has done a lot in his career, but a loss here, he may need to think about his future and maybe that it doesn’t involve him being in the ring when he shouldn’t be. Krasniqi who is only 30, has lost in all his major title challenges. I think this will be a close bout, where both guys stun each other. I am just hoping fans will be treated to a fun fight.

Written by

Leave a Reply

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.