The teams behind German Tyron Zeuge and Nigerian Isaac Ekpo have reached an agreement to fight for the World Boxing Association Super Middleweight title in November, and thus the purse bid scheduled for Monday, August 28th, 2017, was suspended.
They already fought on March 23rd and the German was given the victory by technical decision in the fifth round. However, it was an intense fight with 49-46, 48-47 and 49-47 scorecards.
The Championships Committee, upon request of Team Ekpo, analyzed the fight and ordered a rematch giving them 30 days to negotiate. However, Zeuge was granted a special permit to fight Paul Smith on the condition that the winner of that bout should negotiate with the Nigerian boxer. All of this was supported by the WBA Rules.
Thus, both parties comply with the resolution issued by the WBA Championships Committee, which orders them to have a second fight.
IN OTHER NEWS: The third day of boxing at the AIBA World Championships saw a host of World and Olympic medallists take to the ring, and 40 boxers made their way safely through to the Quarter-Finals and now find themselves just one bout away from a podium finish.
THREE ROUNDS FROM DAY THREE
ROUND ONE: New Zealand’s new 91kg contender
It was back in 1991 that the mighty Heavyweight David Tua won a bronze in Sydney, the last time that a New Zealander could celebrate winning a World Championship medal. On Day Three in Hamburg, David Niyaka proved that he is equally capable of a podium finish of his own at 91kg with a superb performance against Germany’s Igor Teziev. Standing in his way on Tuesday? None other than Olympic Champion Evgeny Tishchenko.
ROUND TWO: Champions turn up the heat
Russia’s Evgeny Tishchenko and Cuba’s Johanys Argilagos and Arlen Lopez were all made to work hard as they began their World title defences with hard-fought victories on Sunday. Olympic Champion Hasanboy Dusmatov and Rio 2016 medallists Yuberjen Martinez, Vassiliy Levit, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Erislandy Savon, Artem Harutyunyan all earned themselves a place in the last eight.
ROUND THREE: Have we seen The Future?
Ben Whittaker beat Kenya’s John Kyalo on the opening day in Hamburg with a unanimous points win, but even better was to come on Sunday evening when the English Middleweight nicknamed The Future made light work of Indian third-seed Krishan Vikas. Can the technical 20-year-old now make it through a Quarter-Final against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzniak on Tuesday to secure a medal on World Championship debut?