Ahmet Öner: “There’s no way Universum can squirm out of the fight!” – At today’s press conference in Krefeld (Germany) Universum started to spread rumours about replacing Juan Carlos Gomez in the WBC Final Eliminator against Vladimir Virchis. According to different matching sources there has been talk of another contender stepping in..
“That’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard in a while,” states ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner. “To me it even sounds like insulting the World Boxing Council. Virchis vs. Gomez was clearly appointed at the WBC Convention in Manila.
And even though I can understand that Virchis and Universum are afraid of Juan and would love to sneak out of that fight there is no way an honourable and reputable sanctioning body like the WBC would ever let Universum get away with that!”
Universum brought up the discussion because Gomez refused the first date they proposed for the fight – March 8th. Gomez stated that he wants more time than five weeks to prepare for a fight of this importance.
Öner: “I totally agree with Juan and understand his point. We are not talking about some fight but about the Final Eliminator for the world heavyweight championship. Everybody who has stepped into the ring before knows that you need at least two months to train for a fight like this.
By the way it is very common that fighters, managers and promoters discuss and argue about a date. Usually you try to reach an agreement that suits all parties if you want to make sure that both fighters get into the ring for the best possible fight.
I cannot avoid the impression that the whole discussion about replacing Gomez is either a proof for Klaus-Peter Kohl’s senility – we all know that he is of advanced age – or just another example for the dubious and contestable methods Universum and Kohl are using. But I got news for you, Klaus-Peter: The times of dictatorship are over – even in Germany!”