By Per Ake Persson
Italian light heavyweight Pietro Aurino has suffered an injury and pulled out of his bout for the vacant EBU title against Stipe Drews. Aurino vs Drews was scheduled to take place on December 16 in Milano. Drews will now fight the next available challenger in the EBU ratings, most likely on a Universum show in the near future. The winner will then fight Aurino. OPI 2000 will still stage a show on December 16 but headliner and site is not yet determined.
Frenchman Franck Gorjux will challenge EBU 112 lb champ Ivan Pozo on December 9 in Madrid. It´s the third change of opponent for Pozo.
The African Warrior Evans Ashira is still on the mend after the shoulder injury he received before his WBO title fight against Joe Calzaghe. Word is that Evans was unable to spar the last two weeks before the fight. The injury needed surgery. Evans says he´s now ready to resume light training, but will need a few months more before he is ready to come back.
Ex-WBC champ Javier Castillejo is the new official challenger for EBU middleweight ruler Sebastian Sylvester.
WBU cruiserweight ruler Enzo Maccarinelli takes on German Marco Heinichen on the undercard to Nelson vs Cantatore in Rome, on November 26. Should both Brits win, a showdown between the two should be on tap for 2006.
