Boxing

NEW WBF CHAMPION KOTAI TAKES DESERVED REST

Photo: New WBF superwelterweight champion Mihaly Kotai celebrates with his acquired hardware and German trainer Theo Kerekesch.

08.07 - For every success, there is a price to pay – especially when you are earning your living in a potentially dangerous occupation such as professional boxing. This is especially true for the newly crowned WBF ‘world’ superwelterweight champion Mihaly Kotai, who won the vacant championship on the huge Manchester bill at the MEN Arena on June 20, clearly outscoring reigning WBC Youth champion Akhmed Oligov.

While Oligov proved a deserving co-challenger and made life anything but easy for the 26-year-old Hungarian, the biggest obstacle Kotai had to overcome were the cuts he suffered from the first round onwards. It marked the third fight in a row for the Budapest man in which his left brow was split and forced him now to take a rest in order to let the injury heal properly. However, remarked Kotai’s German manager Olaf Schroeder of Fight Production, “we were confident that the risk was well worth taking and that Mihaly is man and professional enough to overcome anything.” The title win over the Russian improved Kotai’s record to 24-0 with 11 knockouts and renowned British boxing man Dean Powell stated after the fight that “normally I don’t watch two foreigners boxing in England, but this fight was so good, I had to stay until the end.” Kotai’s fight was beamed live to Hungary and shown on the countries’ biggest private television station RTL Klub. On-site commentator and former WBO ‘world’ featherweight champion Istvan ‘Koko’ Kovacs was so impressed with his countryman’s improvements since teaming up with veteran German trainer Theo Kerekesch earlier this year, that during the post-fight interview he took off his tie and put it around the sweating Kotai’s neck in a gesture of passing the mantle as Hungary’s No. 1 boxing idol.

According to Schroeder, his man will reappear only after the summer and Kotai’s promoter Krzysztof Zbarski of Warsaw’s Polish Boxing Promotion confirm that he is in negotiations for a September warm-up. “After that, and providing all is fine with Mihaly’s eye, we would like to defend the WBF title for the first time in October,” said Schroeder.

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