European Boxing News: Sam, Vidoz, Montrose, Huck, Abraham, Kessler, Kotelnik, Bonsu

By Per Ake Persson

Newly crowned European Heavyweight Champion Sinan Samil Sam has relinquished the title rather than go through with a rematch against Italian Paolo Vidoz. It will now be Vidoz vs. British fighter Matt Skelton for the vacant title. Deadline for purse bids or agreement is noon on September 8.

European cruiser champ Jean Marc Monrose makes a voluntary defence against Marco Huck in Germany on September 20. A likely site for this fight is Bielefeld.

IBF Middleweight king, Arthur Abraham´s next fight, a mandatory defence against Raul Marquez, will go ahead on October 4 if an agreement can be reached or if Sauerland Event wins purse bids.

Mikkel Kessler´s mandatory defence of the WBA Super Middleweight title against Danilo Haussler will take place on either of the above mentioned shows.

The champ comes home: WBA ruler Andreas Kotelnik fights for the first time as a pro at home in Lviv, Ukraine, on September 13 when he defends the title against Japanese fighter Norio Kimura.

While October 10 in Maribor, Slovenia is the working date for Jackson Osei Bonsu´s defence of the European Welterweight title against Jan Zaveck, the champion´s team disagree with the date and want to have the fight in September.

The reason is that Jackson is very close to a WBC eliminator or a world title shot of some kind. The Lotto Arena in Antwerp is booked for November 11, but if there will be a fight on that date with “Sugar” Jackson, it remains to be seen.

Danish super middle Rudy Markussen, inactive since losing to Sergey Tatevosyan in 2006, is having talks with Sauerland Event about a comeback.