By Per Ake Persson
Belgian Cedric Charlier and Luxembourg´s Nascimento Monteiro clash for the vacant BeNeLux 147 lb title on February 25 in Herstal. Also on the bill is experienced middle Bendele Ilunga, and cruiser Jean Claude Bikoi.
Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet writes that ex-WBA bantamweight champ Johnny Bredahl is thinking about coming back.
Swedish welterweight Benjamin Kalinovic takes on Larry Cunnigham on a show in Oklahoma City tonight.
Ringside Belgium commemorates the 30 year anniversary since the Lion of Flanders, Jean Pierre Coopman fought Muhammad Ali in San Juan on February 20 1976. Ali was coming off the "Thrilla in Manila" and needed a soft touch. Coopmans was at the time relatively green; he had began boxing as a 24-year old in 1970 and turned pro in 72. Ali won easily in five rounds. Coopmans would move on to capture the EBU title and did relatively well. The now 59-year old is still in good shape and works out every day.
Just learned that Spanish jr middleweight Ruben Varon, 28-3, is the son of ex-middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight Victor Varon.
There was a time when German manager and agent Olaf Schroeder and former EBU jr middleweight champ Mourad Louati collaborated just fine - or so it seemed. Louati trained Dutch heavy Richel Hersisia, who was and still is managed by Schroeder. But the two split some time ago and the feud between them took a new and serious turn recently.
"Schroeder wrote on his homepage that I let Richel train and fight while injured just to make more money. This is totally wrong and I called him to tell him that and the next thing I know is that he reports me to the police for threatening him" says an angry Louati just back from a trip to Tunisia. The matter gets worse as Louati accuses Schroeder of some serious wrongdoings.
"I have given my lawyer documents that proves that Schroeder have forged medical certificates for some fighters. I have also seen him use a double set of contracts so he can screw the fighters even more", says Louati.
If Louati can prove what he says it would be a pretty serious blow to Schroeder.