By Per Ake Persson
EBU 147 lb champ Oktay Urkal will defend against tough Russian veteran Maxim Nesterenko on September 3 in Berlin, the bout will be the chief support to Beyer vs Sheika (WBC 168). Urkal was originally booked to defended against Dane Thomas Damgaard who pulled out. "I clearly beat Damgaard in the amateurs" says Urkal, "and apparently he has not forgotten it so I´m not that surprised he withdrew."
EBU heavy champ Paolo Vidoz is reportedly not happy with the purse for his upcoming mandatory defense against Brit Michael Sprott which is set for October 1 in Germany with Sauerland Event promoting. Part of the deal is that the winner defends against Cengiz Koc. Cristian Meyer, CEO of Sauerland Event, says all of the contracts are signed.
Peter Hanraths, managing director of Universum, will retire from his job as of today, August 11, which is also his 60th birthday. Hanraths has been a key figure in building up Universum and was responsible for signing up their first superstar: Dariusz "Tiger" Michalczewski. There will be a huge farewell party at the Hamburg gym on August 27 with hundreds of invited guests. Hanraths will then supervise the September 10 show in Karlsruhe headlined by Regina Halmich vs Maria Jesus Rosa as a final assignment.
Poles Albert Sosnowski and Gregorz Proksa are training in Budapest under Laszlo Veres. Both have their next fights coming up in September.
Danish Risum Boxing is looking to promote at home in Struer on October 14 with the German Federation to supervise the event. Henrik Risum says he has obtained permission from the Danish Ministre of Justice for this arrangement (necessary in Denmark; not necessary for for instance the Austrian Federation supervising shows in Germany due to how the laws in the different countries are).