European Boxing News: Jackiewicz, Rodriguez, Mormeck, Botha, Ruiz

By Per Ake Persson

Polish welter Rafael Jackiewicz, IBF # 3, takes on Delvin Rodriguez, IBF # 4 November 28 in Elk, Poland, in what his promoters at Bullit Knockout say is a final IBF eliminator. Spots one and two are vacant in the IBF ratings.

French super middle champ Medhi Bouadla defends the title on Saturday Oct 31 against veteran and former European middleweight ruler Morrade Hakkar. In the co-feature flyweight Mehdi Boulegcha defends the European Union belt against Franck Gorjux in an all-French matchup. Both fights go out live on franceboxe.tv

It´s on: former WBA and WBC cruiser champ Jean Marc Mormeck returns as a heavyweight November 20 in Paris against American Vinny Maddalone.

WBF heavyweight champ Francois Botha has issued a statement apologizing to the fans for his performance against Pedro Carrion this past Saturday. The fight ended in a draw. Botha states he was unable to fire his punches the way he wanted to due to a hand injury.

“There are only two fights where I am unhappy with my performance, this one and the one against Lennox Lewis”, says Botha. At the same time, it takes two to tango and Carrion may look the part but has never as a pro been close to the standard he had as an amateur; at the same time he´s a very big man and difficult to look good against, so Botha is partly excused.

Sauerland Event promotes a club show in Berlin November 13 featuring some of their new talents and a few from Wiking Box Team. Junior middle Nick Klappert headlines along with light heavy Dustin Dirks. Also on the bill is Danish middle Patrick Nielsen, who hails from CIK in Copenhagen where Mikkel Kessler still trains.

Ukrainian middle Avtandil Khurtzide defends the WBA Intercontinental title against Uzbeki veteran Kuvanych Toygonbaev November 20 in Cherkasy. The show is promoted by K 2 East, who have announced welter Yuri Nuzhenko for the co-feature. Nuzhenko has an upcoming fight against Gianluca Branco for the vacant European title with date and site to be announced so his participation seems uncertain.

The Quiet Man, John Ruiz, former WBA heavyweight champ and mandatory challenger for the winner of Valuev vs Haye, will fight German veteran Adnan Serin November 7 in Nuremberg. It´s scheduled for ten.

IBC cruiser champ Pawel Kolodziej defends the title December 19 in Lodz, Poland. Ligh theavy Dawid Kostecki co-headlines and will also be featured in an IBC title fight.