Ahmet Öner: “We will not accept this!” – After the dust had settled in Ankara the controversial draw between Sinan Samil Sam and Paolo Vidoz in their European heavyweight championship bout still led to lots of discussions. “The Bull from Bosporus” had been the more active fighter over the 12 rounds but Vidoz could score with his pumping jab. When the referee announced the result 5,000 Turkish fans at Büyük Anadolu Hotel did not believe their ears: Two judges had given a draw while one had Sinan two points ahead. Therefore the European championship and the IBF interconti belt remain vacant.
“It would have been less controversial if one of the judges hadn’t changed his score of the last round afterwards”, stated ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner. “On one of the scorecards it said 10:10 but Sinan’s 10 was crossed out and replaced by a 9. This one point turned a win for Sinan into the draw. This smells like robbery and I will not accept that. Of course, it was a close fight but Vidoz didn’t do enough to win the fight or earn a draw. I already protested at the EBU..”
The co-main event of the night saw Herbie Hide defending his WBC international cruiserweight championship against “Albanian Tyson” Nuri Seferi. Seferi started strong sending Herbie to the canvas in the first but the “Dancing Destroyer” came back to dominate the later rounds and take home a well deserved unanimous decision victory.
“Herbie is the best boxer I have been in the ring with so far”, stated Seferi after the fight. “He will be world champion soon. I think neither Steve Cunningham nor Marco Huck – who I’ve been in the ring with before – will have a chance against his speed and accuracy.”
Cuban world amateur champion Erislandy Lara won his pro-debut against previously unbeaten Ivan Maslov from Russia. Lara scored a one-sided unanimous decision win.
Olympic silver medallist Atagün Yalcinkaya impressed his home crowd with a 1st round tko-victory over Russia’s Vladislav Sagalarov taking home his third stoppage win in his third pro-fight.
Turkish heavyweight Yakup Saglam (tko 3rd over Alexander Subin) and middleweight Mustafa Karagöllü (tko 4th over Andrei Tolstihs) scored inside wins as well while middleweight Mahir “Lion” Oral went the distance with tough Latvian Jurijs Boreiko.
Former WBO heavyweight champion Henry Akinwande lost a close decision to strong Czech prospect Ondrej Pala.