25.07.06 – By Per Ake Persson: 42-year former IBF lightheavy champ Henry Maske signed the contract with TV network RTL yesterday and the comeback after ten years out of the ring is now officially on, writes express.de. According to express.de, Maske´s comeback was inspired by Virgil Hill´s win over Valery Brudov early 2006 and his target is a rematch with Hill, who beat Maske back in 96 and Henry retired.. Hill vs Maske II could be on for January 2007. A complete update on Maske´s career can be found at henry-maske.de (in German only). At boxen.com, Maske´s former promoter Wilfried Sauerland express a very critcial view towards the Maske comeback.
All due respect to the Manny Siaca vs Silvio Branco WBA 175 lb interim titlefight on OPI 2000`s “Night of the Three Crowns” bill on Thursday in Milan the fight of the night is EBU jr middle champ Michele Piccirillo´s defence against Luca Messi in an all-Italian matchup. It´s expected that Messi will bring in at least a 1000 fans from his hometown Bergamo. The show goes out live on Mediaset. The third “crown” is contested at flyweight between champ Ivan Pozo from Spain and challenger Andrea Sarritzu.
Former EBU middle champ Sebastian Sylvester returns to action on the undercard to Abraham vs Miranda (IBF 160) August 26 in Oldenburg. Also on that bill is supermiddle Danilo Haussler, heavyweight Rene Dettweiler and possible also lightheavy Kai Kurzawa.
Loreni Boxe promotes in Toscolano August 11 with Fabio Tuiach taking on Pavol Polakovic in an IBF Int´l titlefight at cruiser on top of the bill.
Check out worldboxing.fr. Behind it you´ll find former WBA lightweight champ Julien Lorcy and it´s an online store for boxing and martial arts clothes and equipment.
Norwegian superbantam Reidar Walstad is in Latvia for some sparring as he prepares for fights September 2 in Oulu and October 6 in Helsinki. Walstad
Swedish lightweight Shadi Hamsho moved to 8-0 with a unanimous decision over Jorge Perez July 20 in Sacramento.