WBO Boxing News: Klitschko vs. Povetkin

Following Ukranian heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s 54-3 K2 Promotions KO win over Eddie Chambers before a sellout audience in Dusseldorf, Germany, the next candidate to step into the big money by facing Wlad is already lined up.

It’s Russia’s undefeated Alexander Povetkin 19-0 and a purse bid may be booked this month or early July for this interesting event.

Sauerland Events’ Jr. Heavyweight German champion, Marco Huck 29-1 made his second and third title hometown defenses within a forty-five day period with KO wins over USA candidates Adam Richards 23-2 and Brian Minto 34-4.

On July 17th Universum Box will present a WBO Jr. Heavyweight Elimination bout in Schwerin, Germany featuring Denis Lebedev 20-0 versus AlexanderAlekseev 19-1.

While in the 175 pound division, it’s Universum again with titlist Juergen Braehmer 36-2 in action scoring a knockout over Argentinean Mariano Plotinsky 16-4.

Peter Kohl’s Universum continued to control the big boys when Super Middleweight king Robert Stieglitz 38-2 won a unanimous decision over Eduard Gutknecht 18-0, imitating Marco Huck, as this was also his third defense.

Favored middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik 36-2 lost his title to Argentinean Sergio Martinez 49-2 who also lost his title claim when the Executive Board of the WBO rightfully ruled that although given the opportunity to renounce WBC title recognition at 154 he refused to do so, obligating WBO to declare the title vacant.

The winner of the pending battle of undefeated between #1 Russian Dmitry Pirog 16-0 and #2 USA’s Daniel Jacob 20-0 would thus be declared champion.

At 154 pounds interim champion Alfredo Angulo 17-1 relinquished his title to move up to 160 to face the highly ranked Canadian Joachim Alcine 32-1.

The champion in this division is Ukranian Sergiy Dzinziruk 36-0, who is now fighting out of California who finally defended his laurels after a lengthy lay-off, with a tenth round TKO win versus Australian born Daniel Dawson 34-1 at the Chumash Casino, California.

Thirty-four-year old Dzinziruk did not appear to have any ring-rust despite a 17 month inactivity period. His stiff left jab and one-two combinations were a dominant factor in the win.

And in boxing’s most colorful and money producing category, the 147 pounders, it looks like the much anticipated clash between champion Manny Pacquiao 51-3 and Floyd “Pretty Boy” Mayweather 41-0 is a step closer to reality following Mayweather’s most decisive Vegas win over Shane Mosley 46-6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

On this pending Mayweather-Paquiao card junior-welter champion Timothy Bradley 25-0 will face Argentina’s tenth world ranked welter Luis Carlos Abregu 29-0 in a non-championship bout on July 17, 2010. Rule 15 will apply on this one.

Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez 50-5 will make his initial WBO lightweight title defense when he faces Texan Juan Diaz 35-3. This is a return of a 2009 thriller which Marquez won by virtue of a ninth round KO.

While an interim in this division on May 15th between Australia’s Michael Katsidis 27-2 and UK’s Kevin Mitchell 31-0 in a Sports Network UK presentation on May 15th terminated with a third round TKO win for Katsidis.

At the junior-lightweight level Puerto Rico’s undefeated champion Roman Martinez 24-0 successfully defended his title with a knockout win over the rugged Nicaraguan Gonzalo Mungia 17-7 at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, P.R. on May 29th.

This bout was a co-feature of the initial junior-feather defense of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. 18-0 who also scored a knockout win over Hungary’s undefeated Hungarian Olympic star Zsolt Bedak 15-0.

Inspired by his triple-titled father and trainer in his corner, Wilfredo Jr. came through with a tenth round TKO knockout win. But due credit must be given to Bedak who proved to be a tough-competetive rival in the early rounds of this exciting event.

The island will also host the first defense of highly regarded undefeated feather crown, Juan Manuel Lopez’ 28-0 when he faces Filipino Bernabe Concepcion on July 10th at the Hato Rey, P.R. Coliseo Agrelot.

Puerto Rico now has three undefeated WBO champions: junior-lightweight Rocky Martinez 23-0, junior-featherweight Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. 18-0 and junior-flyweight Ivan Calderon 34-0 and who have made successful defenses of their crowns.

At 118 Mexico’s champion Fernando Montiel 41-2 will now be entitled to WBO Super Champion Honors in view of his world title wins in three divisions (112, 115,& 118), his totally victorious sixteen title encounters, his outstanding record of only two losses in 43 bouts with 31 knockouts and finally, to put the icing on the cake, the only champion to unify his title (118) in Japan with his upset knockout win over WBC king Hozumi Hasegawa 28-2 who was considered the best of the bantams.

Puerto Rican Eric Morel’s 42-2 encounter against Jr. Bantam king Mexican Jorge Arce 54-6 in San Antonio, Texas for the interim bantam title has been cancelled due to a sparring injury suffered by Arce.

Interim bantam champion Morel has now requested WBO to sanction a go against champion Fernado Montiel and WBO has thus ordered a negotiation within a five day period.

With 115 champ Arce moving up to 118, Flyweight champion Argentinean Omar Narvaez 32-0 will receive title recognition in the 115 category with his shut-out 12 round win over Nicaraguan Evert Briceno 32-5 on May 15th at Luna Park, Buenos Aires.

With 15 successful title defenses at 112 Narvaez established an Argentinean record previously held by Hall of Famer middleweight Carlos Monzon, for title defenses in one division.

The growing trend of female championship figures finally hits Puerto Rico when a junior-middleweight title clash sponsored by P.R. Best Boxing in conjunction with All Star Boxing featured Costa Rica’s heavy-fisted Hanna Gabriel 10-0 scored a knockout seconds after the opening bell with her initial barrage over Dominican Gardy Pena 9-2 on the dual championship card that featured island 122 and 130 pound undefeated champions Wilfredo Vazquez and 130 pound champions Roman Martinez.

The WBO takes this opportunity to offer Hanna our deepest condolences for the tremendous loss of her child. May God keep his blessed soul!

Germany continues to take the lead in fan interest with the Universum Box presentation Susiana Kentikian 27-0 taking a split ten rounder from Nadia Raoui 11-0 on April 24th for the flyweight title in Hamburg while on July 3rd a featherweight title match will be headlined by Ina Menzer 26-0 vs. Jeannine Gearside 9-3. Go to it girls!

We must point out with the utmost pride that in the afore mentioned dual championship card celebrated here in Puerto Rico on May 28th , we had the distinct honor of the presence of two of WBO’s unforgettable European former world champions.

The undefeated Hungarian Istvan “Koko” Kovacs 19-0 won his title on January 27, 2001 with a 12 round KO over Dominican Antonio Diaz 21-1 in Hamburg, Germany in his twentieth start, while Artur Grigorian 38-1 would take his world title in his nineteenth start with a KO win in 1996 over Puerto Rican Antonio Rivera 34-9.

Grigorian would record seventeen successful defenses in a seven year period before losing his title to Brazil’s all-time greatest, Acelino Freitas by 12 round decision on January 3rd 2004 in his only USA encounter.

Artur is closely related to boxing as a astute trainer while Koko can’t seem to retire from WBO activties., he has been a most active participant in our European activities and now holds the position of European Vice-President and WBO-Europe Regional President. May we have many more visits, Koko!