02.10 - WBF heavyweight champion Richel Hersisia, fresh off a first successful title defence against Sami Elovaara, has this morning boarded a plane to his native island Curacao in the Caribbean together with trainer Mourad Louati. However, the undefeated all-action powerpuncher is not satisfied to just show off his hardware and thus will feature as the main attraction on October 11 boxing show.

Manager Olaf Schroeder of Germany’s Fight Production revealed that the 20-0 (15 KO’s) Dutchman will clash with former cruiserweight ‘world’ champion Uriah Grant over 10 rounds in a non-title fight. Like last year, when Hersisia won his first professional title on Curacao, crashing Eduardo Sandivares for the WBA Central American crown, Schroeder again works with local promoter Ivan Conradus, who himself was a top class lightweight in the 70ies and 80ies, sharing the ring with, amongst other noteable names, Puerto Rican legend Wilfredo Gomez.

Hersisia’s opponent, native Jamaican Grant, comes with a career log of 30-19 with all but two of his wins coming by the short route. Grant, fast closing in on his second decade in the business, once held the IBF and IBO ‘world’ titles and his record list reads like a who’s-who of the sweet science. He holds win over such legends as Matthew Saad Muhammad and Thomas ‘Hit Man’ Hearns and waged war with many other noteables like Leslie Stewart, Bobby Czyz, Frank Tate, Alfred Cole, Chris Byrd, Adolpho Washington, Imamu Mayfield, Carl Thompson or Brian Nielsen, all at one point ‘world’ title holders of sorts.

Only three times, though, did Grant fail to make it to the final bell, but a confident Hersisia proclaimed earlier this week to Dutch media: “Anybody who knows me, knows that I’m not satisfied to just squeeze by. I’m aiming to knock Grant out because I want to distance myself from the rest of the pack.”

Manager Schroeder, who will join his fighter and trainer Louati next week, is looking at the broader picture. “Richel must start to get some internationally recognizable names on his record in order to be in the mix for bigger things. I know we have doubters in the boxing media, but sooner or later they will be forced to ear their words. Richel is for real!” says the eloquent manager.

What better place to do this like on the paradisely former Dutch colony of Curacao, where Hersisia is by all indications the most popular person the island has ever seen. “The anticipation is tremendous,” confirms promoter Conradus, “When Richel and Mourad arrive, there will be members of our government greeting them at the airport and their arrival will be shown live on television. On Friday, Richel will appear in out local football stadium to be honored by thousands of school children, whom he will talk to. If you have never been on Curacao, you have no idea how big Richel is over here.”