By Per Ake Persson
Jennifer Retzke and Mikaela Lauren was announced as on for March 30 in Stockholm with the vacant IBF female jr middleweight title at stake. However, the promotors ran into financial problems and were forced to cancel their involvement in the show.
However, New Sweden, headed by father and son, Leif and Robert Nordman, took over the fight along with Lauren´s manager, Siamak Vis Jagemar, and put the fight back on June 1 in Tierp but then moved it to Stockholm on the same date and paid an advancement to Retzke for ten percent of the purse.
Last week New Sweden cancelled the show officially due to an ongoing dispute with the Swedish Federation, SBF.
However, SBF ruled that New Sweden had called the show off without giving any reason and thus harming the boxers in particular and handed out a 24 month suspension to Nordman and Jagemar. Between the lines it´s claimed that New Sweden simply couldn´t finance the show and used the dispute for an easy way out - this is strongly disputed by Robert Nordman, who says New Sweden take a heavy loss as it is.
But the fight didn´t die there and is now on for London July 5 on a show sanctioned by the German Boxing Association, the GBA, a non EBU member where Retzke´s agent Mario Pokowietz is one of the creators. Nordman was listed as co-promoter of the show but appears now to be in the hands of Dave Murphy.
There´s probably more to come on this story and last but not least there might be the Swedish Boxing Association under construction, which will work closely with GBA.
