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It is now almost exactly one
year ago that French flyweight
Amira Hamzaoui celebrated her
career-best win and in the
process relieved defending
champion Raja Amasheh of the
WBF’s female world title.
Or so she thought. Because the
fallout from that meeting in
Saarbrücken, Germany – which in
itself was a high-quality fight
with both boxers being a credit
to their sport – made it one of
the most scandalous low points
in female boxing history.
Amidst an obscure cloud of
different and often changing
statements, outright lies, hate
propaganda and blatant cheating
involving Amasheh herself, her
trainer and promoter and
especially the WBC (who had a
minor title on the line in the
fight) and the German Boxing
Federation (BDB), Hamzaoui had
her WBC belt stolen from her and
saw the fight result suddenly
published as a No Contest.
Only the WBF
did not get involved in the
backroom shenanigans and
maintained Hamzaoui’s win.
Since
manipulations such as this are
unfortunately too often
forgotten quickly in boxing,
Hamzaoui’s lawyer Marcus
Bartscht now opened his files to
the public. Currently, a lawsuit
from Hamzaoui against the BDB is
still pending in a German court.
Thus, what
follows is a “best-of” selection
of contradictory and highly
revealing statements from those
involved in the scam to
commemorate the first
anniversary of this still
unbelievable injustice.
„Please
take care of your champion and
don’t let a human error hurt a
fighters’ career. Raja is really
upset and is losing her trust by
having such decision on her
record. In addition we want to
make clear that Raja was always
a proud and loyal WBF champion.”
Raja Amasheh,
Trainer/Manager Dominik Junge &
Promoter Oliver Heib (in letter
of protest to WBF on why they
think the WBF should change
Amasheh’s defeat).
“I
have been informed
that the BDB and the WBC
have decided to rule (…) a No
Contest
(...)
Malte
Mueller-Michaelis, WBC Female
Championship Chairman (in an
informal email to Hamzaoui’s
trainer), 14th
Nov. 2014.
“I
apologize for the inconvenience
(…) and I hope that you are not
offended by the decision.”
Malte
Mueller-Michaelis (inclined to
sarcasm in an email to
Hamzaoui’s trainer), 14th
Nov. 2014.
“The
BDB and the WBC have
jointly declared
(…) a No Contest due to
irregularities in scoring with
the officials.”
Original
Statement on Websites of BDB and
WBC, 17th
Nov. 2014.
“The
WBC’s decision (…) to judge the
fight a No Contest is an
autonomous decision of the
WBC.”
Björn
Ziegler, BDB Lawyer, (in letter
to Hamzaoui’s lawyer), 2nd
Dec. 2014.
“The
BDB and the WBC have
jointly announced
(…) a No Contest.”
Changed Statement on Websites of
BDB and WBC.
“Everybody
knows that I won this fight.”
Raja Amasheh,
Interview
with
groundandpound.de, 27th
Nov. 2014.
“Based
on available footage a win for
the French does not seem to be a
misjudgment.”
Morten Koenig, Journalist,
boxwelt.com, 3rd
Jan. 2015.
“I
have a bloody good lawyer. And
I’m happy to face you
(the WBF)
in every court on this
planet. I’m happy to pay for
that. Please stop all activities
in the next days or I will send
you all the lawyers case /
interim injunction as well as
claims for damages. Please tell
me your decision, otherwise I
will have the next meeting with
my lawyer by tomorrow noon and
let things go. You give me no
choice.”
‘Raging’
Raja Amasheh (raging in email to
WBF President Howard Goldberg on
empty threats), 7th
Jan. 2015.
“I
have a feeling that Amira is
exploited and used by people who
lead a crusade against the WBC
and the BDB.”
‘Raging
Some More’ Raja Amasheh (on what
she thinks about Hamzaoui daring
to fight against being cheated
out of her win), Interview, 7th
Jan. 2015.
“The
WBC was notified by the local
boxing authority
(BDB)
(…) about the change to a No
Contest.”
Mauricio
Sulaiman, WBC President (in a
not published email interview),
7th
Jan. 2015.
“Mauricio
Sulaiman has informed me that
the WBC Board of Governors has
decided (…) to change the result
to a No Contest. The BDB itself
has made no decision on this
matter.”
Thomas Puetz,
BDB President (opposing Sulaiman
in a sworn affidavit), 9th
Jan. 2015.
“In
such cases
(revocation of sanctioning),
the ruling of the WBC does not
control the final determination
of the local boxing commission
regarding the decision in the
contest.”
WBC Rules
(opposing statements of BDB
President and BDB Lawyer).
“The
BDB declared it a No Contest. It
is important that you understand
that the BDB actually reversed
the result. The WBC just
acknowledged and accepted the
decision.”
Mauricio
Sulaiman, WBC President (in an
email to the French Federation,
obviously declaring BDB
President Thomas Puetz gave a
false oath), 10th
Dec. 2014.
“The
editors scored a majority draw.
Unfortunately, the video was
listed as private shortly after
we published our article.
Obviously, there is an interest
to hide the fight from the
public.”
Morten
Koenig, Journalist, boxwelt.com,
13th
Jan. 2015.
“If
(WBF Executive Director)
Olaf
(Schroeder)
and his friends would not be
there any longer,
I would be more than happy
to come back
(to the WBF).”
‘Raging-‘n’-Revealing’
Raja Amasheh (in a chat with WBF
President Howard Goldberg), 6th
June 2015.
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