The World Boxing Federation
continues to grow at a rapid
rate. Europe is an extremely
active area at present and many
exciting young up and coming
fighters are beginning to
emerge.
Sefer Seferi is one of these
such fighters. Although to be
fully tested, this young polite
man has done everything asked of
him in thus far moving his
record to 11 - 0 with ten KO's.
Seferi emerged victorious in his
fight on 26 June in Vienna
Austria - an outstanding
promoted show which I was
delighted to attend.
Austrian star Gogi Knezevic came
unstuck against unheralded but
tough-as-teak German Viktor Dick
in a very exciting and
entertaining fight which could
have gone either way. I was very
impressed with the courage and
heart of Knezevic who still has
a boxing future but who will
need to improve his defence in
order to progress. It was a
major upset, which is indicative
of how unpredictable boxing
really is.
I am delighted to report two
major signings on to our
increasing team. As I have said
before, a top class organisation
needs top class people - and
Paul Thomas and Sergio Sotelo
are two such people. I look
forward to seeing both in the
near future and discussing ways
to keep our excellent momentum
going as we continue to grow. It
will be interesting to see how
Paul and Sergio develop the UK
and Central
America respectively.
The World Cup has been a major
coup for South Africa. The
entire country has been swept
away in exciting delirium in the
greatest event in the
world. Sadly though, it has
resulted in South African boxing
being extremely quiet over the
past few months. Our champions,
William Gare, Bongani Mwelase
and Lububalo Msutu are itching
to defend their titles and I'm
sure they will be in action in
the next month or two.
Watch out for the following
boxers over the next two years -
Wele Yekose, a junior flyweight
10 - 0 with 9 KO's, and our All
Africa featherweight champ
Matima Molefe 10 - 1 with 7 KO's
- who are just two of the
exciting group of young fighters
emerging out of East London
South Africa.
We have Francois Botha aiming to
resurrect his career in Las
Vegas next month, Evander
Holyfield defending in
September, top promoter Piotr
Werner staging a huge double
header in two months time, two
women’s world title fights in
East London next month, the list
is both impressive and endless.
Also a big thank you to Austrian
promoter Zeljko Vojnovic who
showed me such wonderful
hospitality this past week in
Vienna. We look forward to your
next show later in the year.
Finally, I will be attending a
nursery boxing show in my home
town Cape Town on 1 August,
where the fight-starved
Capetonian fighters will get
their chance to show off their
skills. No sponsors, no
television and free entrance -
but these little shows are as
important to these aspiring
young fighters as are the world
championships to our world
champion fighters. I will surely
enjoy the show as much as any
other show I have been to. Who
knows - perhaps the next Manny
Paquaio might emerge on the
night!
Until next time, keep boxing.
Howard Goldberg
PRESIDENT: World Boxing
Federation
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