Risum Boxing: 2007 In Review!

If success is only measured in winning titles, then 2007 was not the best of its kind for Risum Boxing. But thankfully that’s not the essence of the company, and once again I feel grateful for a good year. We were literally involved in hundreds of fights all over the world, and directly or indirectly worked with some of the biggest promoters and managers possible.

In the management area of Risum Boxing, the record totaled 15-5 in 20 fights for five boxers, but it should be noted that four of those losses were in title fights, one of them by 1, 2 and 4 points, one by 1, 2 and 3 points, and one by 2, 2 and 3 points.

And all of them were in the opponent’s “backyard”. Some even felt victory was deserved for my fighters in some of those bouts, and it is a very fine line sometimes between “W” or “L”, belt and no belt.

Kim Poulsen, 4-1 (1) in 2007, but 5-0 had been reasonable!

When you adopt a moniker such a “Golden Boy”, something Kim Poulsen did when he was a very young amateur, you must accept that a certain amount of pressure is put on your shoulders. And Kim, still only 20 years old and Denmark’s youngest professional boxer, has no problem with that, and he is willing to sacrifice all the sweat and tears needed to eventually take his career to the very limit of his considerable potential.

Knowing that, it was extra painful to witness his “bad night at the office” against Tony Jourda in April, when Kim boxed very much below standard, and that, when scoring referee Dave Parris also had a “bad night at the office”, it all resulted in Kim dropping a 58-57 decision, forever waving goodbye to his unbeaten record.

Kim deserved to win that night, no matter how poorly he performed, but looking back I think it will help him in the long run. Undefeated records are very often overrated anyway, and losing once or twice early in a career, doesn’t mean you can’t go on and accomplish big things if you just use the set-back in the right way, use it for motivation and to learn.

Kim had looked sensational in his first fight of 2007, knocking out tough Estonian Sergey Rozhakmens in London, and he ended up finishing the year with three nice, clear victories against Czech Josef Holub, undefeated Pole Tomasz Kwiecien and renowned English journeyman Peter Buckley.

There is no hurry for Kim, he has time working for him, and if he continues to develop, and learn from the bad nights that are inevitable for every boxer or sportsman in general, he has the talent and potential to mix with the best in Europe in a few years.

David Kiilu, 2-1 in 2007, almost upset the (former) European champion!

When David Kiilu was stopped in three rounds by world class Mongolian Choi Tseveenpurev in 2006, it looked very difficult for him to redeem himself. But he effectively did just that when he took former European champion Cyril Thomas to the wire, giving the Frenchman all he could handle before losing narrowly on points in front of 5000 spectators in Thomas’ hometown of Saint Quentin in a fight for the WBF super featherweight title back in April.

That fight showed that when David is at his best he can handle himself with the best of Europe. Had that fight been in another country, he might just have gotten the nod.

David bounced back with two easy victories in his own hometown, Nairobi, and was supposed to close out the year with another tune-up in Tanzania in December but unfortunately had to withdraw due to illness. It is my great hope that he will get yet another chance to fight for a title in Europe in the first half of 2008.

Fawaz Nasir, 1-2 in 2007, so close but still so far off…twice!

Fawaz Nasir had the most significant year of his career in 2007, twice fighting for titles on big shows in Germany. Unfortunately he came up just short each time, and unfortunately its one of those cases where he has to blame himself.

He could have won both title fights, and definitely should have won the second of them. He knows that too, and as I am the first one to praise a boxer when he does well, I also feel entitled to “tell it like it is” when things are the other way around.

Losing close fights to undefeated Germans Sebastian Zbik and (Polish born) Lukas Wilaschedk IN Germany is no shame in itself, but despite having as much talent as Fawaz does, that is rarely enough alone to win fights like this. Actually, the Zbik loss is hard to blame on him, as he did well and tried his best, and Boxing News, the British trade paper, even had Fawaz winning by as much as four points.

But against Wilascheck, Fawaz seemed to tire after just four rounds and more or less gave the fight to the home-boy after sweeping the first three rounds easily on all three judges’ cards.

Time will tell what the next step for Fawaz will be…

James Kimori, 5-0 in 2007, and closing in on ABU rankings!

James Kimori is continuing his development in the professional ranks, and did what was expected of him in 2007. James won five out of five and stopped four of his opponents, and it looks like the African Boxing Union, the African department of the WBC, will include him in their next welterweight rankings.

“Jesse” James finished off 2007 by going to Tanzania to stop local man George Mtagwa in the first round, and a step up in competition is now called for.

Samson Onyango, 3-1 in 2007, ready for new challenges!

Samson Onyango did himself and Risum Boxing proud when he stepped in on less than two weeks notice to travel to Poland to fight Roman Skharupa for the WBF Intercontinental super middleweight title. He gave Skharupa a very good and competitive fight, but lost a fair, although too wide, decision after a brave performance.

A real professional, Sam took the opportunity when it came, and did everything in his power to win, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. However, it showed me that with proper preparations he can give very good fighters all they can handle, and even beat some of the best in Europe.

After a well-deserved break following the title fight, Sam returned to action in Tanzania on December 15, when he stepped right into an all-out war with old foe Idd Kigula, and once again came out victorious by knockout. Sam is now ready to take on new challenges, and we hope another title fight in Europe comes along sooner rather than later. Next time it would just be great with more time to prepare.

Thank you all!

I want to finish this special year-end-edition of Blog’d Punches by giving thanks to all of those who cooperated with and supported Risum Boxing in 2007, and a special thanks to my boxers, trainers Brian Mathiasen (LYBT!) and Kevin Mulama, Fawaz Nasir’s co-manager, and my friend, Olaf Schroeder, Evans “The African Warrior” Ashira, coordinator Joseph Akhasamba, and “The Poulsen Family” for all their support and cooperation. Thank you all! Let us hope that 2008 turns out even better than 2007!