Boxing In Germany: Gomez, Airich Win In Schwerin

ByBoxing Press

Only two weeks after his comeback-win against Alex Mazikin in Hamburg former cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gomez returned to the ring with a one-sided unanimous decision win over German contender Alexander Kahl in front of 1,500 fans at the Neue Arena in Schwerin.

The Black Panther looked good after losing 13 pounds in the last two weeks although he is still far from his old shape. Gomez dominated the fight from the opening to the final bell knocking down his opponent four times with hard body shots and a nice hook to the chin in round 8.

Kahl only tried to survive and eventually succeeded. Scores were 80-69, 80-69 and 80-68.

“I felt very comfortable in the ring tonight“, Gomez said directly after the fight. ” know that I am not back in my best physical condition but I feel that I am on my way. This was an important step for me. I will not take any more breaks but continue to work hard in the gym to get in shape for a second shot at the world heavyweight championship.“

One year ago Gomez lost to WBC champion Vitali Klitschko. Now the Black Panther is hoping for another title shot against either Wladimir Klitschko or WBA champ David Haye.

“I lost to Vitali but I can beat any other fighter in the division“, says Gomez. “And on a good day in my best possible shape I can be a serious threat to Vitali as well. The Black Panther is back. I still dream of becoming the first Cuban heavyweight champion ever.“

In the co-feature of the night hard-hitting “Sandman“ Konstantin Airich proved his enormous punching power by annihilating Russian veteran Alexey Varakin in 1:34 minute. Airich knocked out his opponent with a beautiful body-head combination taking his record to 14-2-2 including 11 stoppages.

German light heavy prospect Robert Woge took a little more time than Airich but had no problems either with his opponent Armen Azizian from Georgia. Woge clearly dominated his opponent with wild combinations from all kinds of angles. Azizian did his best to survive but was finally knocked out by a vicious series of body shots after 50 seconds in round three.

Czech heavyweight contender Ondrej Pala showed another great performance by knocking out Ukrainian giant Sergey Babich in round 5 of a scheduled eight-rounder. Time was 1:40 minute.

In the only female fight of the night Özlem Sahin from Ludwigsburg scored a unanimous decision win over experienced Svetla Taskova from Bulgaria.