OTTAWA, Canada (July 26, 2013) — When heavyweight contender Bermane “B. Ware” Stiverne (21-1, 20 KOs) upset Chris Arreola (35-3, 30 KOs) on HBO this past April 27, in a title elimination bout, it set-up the dangerous Canadian for a super fight versus future Hall of Famer and long-time World Boxing Council (WBC) World Heavyweight Champion, Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KOs).
Stiverne completely dominated former world title challenger Arreola, dropping him in the third round, en route to a unanimous 12-round decision (118-109, 117-110, 117-110) for the vacant WBC Silver title.
A purse bid was set and postponed, reset and re-postponed. Finally, July 22 was supposed to be the final purse bid date when, surprisingly, the WBC once again granted another extension requested by the Team Klitschko, forcing the mandatory challenger to wait once again for his world title shot that he has now earned twice by winning a pair “title elimination” bouts. WBO No. 1 contender Stiverne, who is also rated No. 10 in the world by The Ring Magazine, had knocked out Ray Austin in the 10th round of their WBC heavyweight title eliminator on June 25, 2011.
“It’s a bit frustrating to hear only two days before the scheduled purse bid that it has once again been postponed,” explained Stiverne’s manager, Camille Estephan, CEO of Eye Of The Tiger Management (EOTTM). “We are waiting for a new date. At this point, we have worked really hard to secure potential venues. Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre and Montreal’s Bell Centre are still at the forefront. Regardless, Bermane is ready now, or in a few months, and the longer Klitschko plays politics rather than man up and fight, the more ready we will be and the older he will get. Bermane will KO him wherever and whenever it happens.”
In the meantime, though, fans can still be treated to world-class boxing in the Capital region on September 6. “For now,” Estephan noted, “we are focused on our September 6th card at the Casino Lac Leamy in Gatineau. We have undefeated lightweight Ghislain “Mani” Maduma (14-0, 9 KOs) defending his WBC Continental Americas belt and also fighting for the vacant NABF (North American Boxing Federation) championship. This win, if successful, should put him in the top 5 in the world (Maduma is presently rated No. 14 by the WBC). (Super featherweight) Baha Laham (12-0-1, 5 KOs) and (light heavyweight Andy Gardiner (8-0. 4 KOs) are also being showcased in separate eight- round fights. If you know anything about these two guys, I don’t have to tell you it’s going to be exciting.”
Tickets for Sept. 6th event are on sale now and very reasonably priced at $40.00 and $60.00, while tables of 10 may be purchased for $1,500, by visiting www.admission.com or at the Final Round Boxing Club, 15 Eccles Street in Ottawa. For further information visit www.eottm.com, contact EOTTM at (514) 632-56666, or follow on Twitter @eotmvd.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
