|
It was a shocking week for sure
for Fight Production, as both
heavyweight Willi ‘De Ox’
Fischer and middleweight
Gogi ‘Lionheart’ Knezevic
had to call off their WBF
‘world’ title challenges against
respective champions Francois
Botha and Kreshnik Qato,
scheduled for Dessau, Germany
this coming Saturday, Oct. 24.
“It’s an unbelievable bad luck
streak,” said manager Olaf
Schroeder, “and my heart goes
out to Willi and Gogi, who are
suffering the most at the
moment.” However, SES Boxing
will still go ahead with the
show, with Botha now defending
against Cuban Pedro Carrion and
Qato – in whose corner Schroeder
is now free to work as a cutman
– will put his crown on the line
against Italian Fabio Liggieri.
First, it was Fischer, 37-6-1
(24 KO’s), who had to pull out
after re-injuring his bizeps
tendon, which was also the
reason behind the 37-year-old’s
cancellation of a shot at
(interim) German champion
Sebastian Köber early this year.
Trainer Tom Leidenheimer
reports:
“Willi continued sparring after
the injury happened, because he
was in complete denial about it,
until he was in tears for pain.
We are all devastated,
completely devastated, because
this was the fight we worked for
the past two years. Willi’s
whole comeback was about to
culminate (with the chance
against Botha).”
Now in therapy, the question
marks about this, so far,
successful comeback of Fischer
are looming bigger than ever and
manager Schroeder admitted that
complete retirement might not be
an excluded option.
Coming down with a bad case of
sinus inflammation, Gogi
Knezevic, 16-2-1 (7 KO’s),
completed the double trouble a
few days later.
“I would have boxed in any
condition, that’s how much it
means to me, but the doctor
wouldn’t let me! They shattered
my dream,” the Austro-Serb said
before packing his bags and
leaving his training camp in
Serbia with his trainer Johann
Senfter to head back home to
Vienna.
Knezevic had just a good week
earlier scored a knockout win
and immediately afterwards went
into camp for what should have
been the biggest chance of his
five-year professional career.
His WBF title clash with
Albanian champion Kreshnik Qato
had raised many headlines on the
Balkan for it’s ethic background
with regards to the war between
Albanians and Serbians 10 years
ago and it would have been the
biggest sporting event between
those two nations (although
Knezevic holds Austrian
citizenship, he is not denying
his roots) ever since.
|
