30.03.06 – By Per Ake Persson: Elite Box Promotion, a new promotional outfit in Germany, have filed a protest to the EBU in regards of the purse bids for EBU lightheavy champ Stipe Drews´ defence against Kai Kurzawa. Elite claims that neither Universum, who won the purse bids, nor Sauerland Event posted the necessary bond in time with their respective Federation.. Universum are, like Elite, licensed with the German Federation while Sauerland Event are licensed in Austria.
According to the EBU article 7:G a bidder must post a bond of 6500 EUR with its Federation, who then are to notify the EBU of the receipt of this before noon the day of the purse bid. In this case word stand against word.
“We received the confirmation of the bonds from the BDB (the German Federation) already on Friday March 24 and from the FVA (the Austrian Federation) on the morning of March 27” says EBU General Secretary Enza Jacoponi. “I am not obliged to show it to anyone and I didn´t show it to the Elite representative. This will not even be a matter for the Council, it´s a complete misunderstanding.”
Elite´s Falco Behling have, not surprisingly, a different take of it: “Rules are rules and I am sure that by the time of the purse bids the confirmation of the bonds were not at the EBU office in Rome.”
Elite Box Promotion´s bid for the fight was lower than the one given by Sauerland Event – and a lot lower than the winning bid from Universum. While Kurzawa is signed to Sauerland Event he is advised by Falco Behling and trained by EBP:s Paddy Fittzpatrick. Should Universum´s and Sauerland´s purse bids be declared null and void it would in effect mean that Kurzawa lose a lot of money. “How do you know that” says Behling. “We can very well have a private contract with the fighter even though the split of the official purse bid money is 60-40.”
As it is now Drews vs Kurzawa goes ahead in Munich May 29. EBP wanted to the fight for May 27 in Kurzawa´s hometown of Chemnitz.
EBP promote its first show tomorrow night in Potsdam. Latvian heavy Edgar Kalnars will take on Romanian Patriche Costel, Swedish middle Tonton Semakala is in against Octavian Stocia, also from Romania, while Vatche Wartanian fights Slovakian Lubomir Wejs.
Other news: The ever growing Spotligh Boxing have signed up Sebastian Koeber and Eduard Gutknecht. The 26-year old Koeber won bronze in the 2000 Olympics at heavyweight. Gutknecht, a middleweight, won German titles 2003 and 2005.