By Per Ake Persson
Rimer Boxe won purse bids in Rome for EBU bantamweight champ Simone Maludrottu´s mandatory defense against Spaniard Karim Quibir. Date and site is to be announced.
Finn Amin Asikainen, who takes on EBU 160 lb champ Sebastian Sylvester in the chief support to Valuev vs Beck on June 3 in Hannover, returned home this past Saturday after a week of sparring in Latvia with Jurij Boreiko, among others. Trainer Pekka Maeki wouldn´t get into details on the tactical aspects, but feels hand speed will be key factor in the fight. Team Asikainen are confident of victory and bringing the EBU belt to Finland.
Sauerland Event won the purse bids yesterday in Rome for EU 154 lb champ Jimmy Colas´ defense against Christophe Canclaux in an all-French matchup. Date and site is to be announced. Canclaux have a spot on the Valuev vs Beck bill as well.
Ex-World bantam champ Mario D´Agata celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday - May 29. D´Agata fought professionally from 1950 to 1962.
Ukrainian jr middleweight Roman Dzuman takes on Portugese Eugene Monteiro for the vacant GBU title on June 8 in Lvov. Also on the bill is unbeaten welter Yuri Nuzhnenko.
The undercard to Steve Conway´s defense of the IBO jr middle title against Attila Kovacs on June 3 in Szolnok also features super middleweight Joszef Nagy taking on veteran Mukadi Manda.
Swedish welterweight Isam Khalil and trainer Leif Carlsson departed today from Stockholm for a spot on the undercard to Cauthen vs Suleymanoglu on June 3 in Trenton, NJ. Khalil, 13-0-2, has been inactive since January of 2004 mainly due to the promotional difficulties stemming from the shutdown of Modern Sports & Events.
