As previously reported by Boxing Scene EBU heavyweight champion Labinot Xhoxhaj, 20-0-1 (16 KOs) defends the title against mandatory challenger Mourad Aliev, 13-0 (10 KOs), June 7 in a tent outside the new Universum gym in Hamburg, Germany. Aliev’s WBC International Silver title is at stake.
Aliev is a firm favourite to win the EBU title and one can’t argue against that but when Xhoxhaj won the belt he entered the ring as an underdog against then title holder Oleksandr Zakhoznyi and came away with a clear win in a big upset.
On the undercard, big Cuban heavyweight Jose Larduet, 13-1 (11 KOs), is back in action in his first fight since losing to Bohdan Myronets at the WBC convention in December of last year. Larduet meets Dutchman Brian Zwart, 6-1 (4 KOs) and the Cuban needs to win and impress.
Also on the bill is Croatian middleweight champ, the now 41-year-old Ante Bilic, 30-2 (16 KOs). Bilic was once promoted by Spotlight Boxing and later Arena Box Promotion, both Hamburg companies, but ended up serving 13 years in jail for murder. He is now 3-0 since coming back earlier this year and now faces Bruno Knjezevic, 11-4 (9 KOs).
The event is co-promotion between the ‘new’ Universum Box Promotion and the revived Arena Box Promotion – once involved in a bitter dispute with the ‘old’ Universum but that is water under the bridge now.
