1 month to go.
4 weeks, 2 days.
I’m not giving it to you in hours and minutes. If you’re that geeky you’ll have worked it out by now.
It’s still happening.
‘The Luxembourg Fight’.
It’s now even got an undercard (cue the muted cries of ‘woooooooo’!!)
On Tuesday Frank Warren err, I beg your pardon, Sauerland Promotions and Boxnation TV held a press conference to announce the undercard for the ‘Licence to Thrill’ main event featuring David Haye and Dereck Chisora who get it on for the WBO International and WBA Intercontinental belts.
You’ll have to forgive me for not knowing much about these two prestigious titles. By all account the WBU, WBF, IBU, WBX, IBZ and BBB all vied for the opportunity to have their intercountrynentalional titles on the line but were deemed just slightly too lacking in credibility to be given consideration.
So we know who the lead actors are (no pun intended) in this little play. What of the supporting cast?
In the chief undercard bout there is an actual (ahem) World title at stake. The Mendoza’s of Venezuela and their cohorts have decreed that Hasim Rahman of an earlier era be the #1 contender to Alexander ‘Got Gas?’ Povetkin for the belt that was freed up when Haye handed or ‘footed’ over the title to Wladimir Klitschko who got it upgraded to ’Super’ status on account of owning every other major world title bar his brother’s Mexican-green version.
In other bouts, Warren has called on some of his younger stable members to fill the bill.
Frankie ‘No longer Funtime’ Gavin will contest for the WBO European belt against an as yet unnamed opponent. Apparently it’s going to be a domestic clash so the ‘European’ bit is elegant and possibly a thumb of the nose at the EBU who have told the Luxembourg Boxing Federation that they are no longer part of the gang.
I guess the WBO haven’t gone as far as introducing their own ‘British’ titles yet.
Matter of time, people, Matter of time.
The contest will be at a 148lb catch weight. We’re assuming that means it’s a light middleweight fight though we haven’t ruled out the WBO creating their own weight divisions too such is their new found confidence.
Liam Walsh returns after his domestic epic against Paul Appleby for the Commonwealth Super Featherweight belt in a match against Sebastian Cornu, the same man he beat on points in a six rounder in September 2010, for the WBO European Superfeatherweight title.
These WBO European belts are proving popular. I’m hoping to pick one up on QVC soon.
Cornu is ranked 5th (according to Boxrec) in ….France at his weight and has gone 3-2-1 since the Walsh fight. 5th in France and 115th in the world.
WOW!
That’s some step up in class for young Walsh who must have been feeling like he could take on the world after the Appleby fight.
Sadly he will be taking on his own left overs.
Maybe Cornu has improved.
Last up, Matthew Hall will be coming back after his loss to Sam Webb (which was a British Junior Middleweight eliminator) to compete for the WBA International 154lb title against unbeaten German Jack Culcay.
Some compliment to the BBBoC really that a domestic title eliminator loss and a world sanctioning body ‘International’ title rank on a par.
So there you have it.
The undercard (1 opponent pending – barrels being scraped as I speak) for the ‘main event’.
I’m not going to say any more about the main event participants here.
I’m not even going to make comment on how the undercards were made other than to say that with many ‘name’ fighters in the promotional stable of Chisora’s manager/major shareholder of Boxnation either expressing their dissatisfaction with or seeking to leave or actually having left their manager/promoter I’m sure it’s been quite a feat in itself to pull an undercard together at all.
Goes to show what a few utterly meaningless baubles and ‘titles’ can do for gullible young fighters desperate for some media attention so they can make a living out of boxing.
In his own words (almost) ‘Nothings gonna stop us now’ and ‘The show must go on’.
Well – I prefer the saying, ‘it aint over until the fat lady sings’ or in this case ‘it aint happening until the fat fella has balanced the books and everyone’s been paid’.
My money hasn’t gone on a ticket.
I might get some odds for the whole thing to collapse in the next few weeks and put my money on that instead.
These toe injuries are nasty and you never know when one will crop up!
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