Promoter Ahmet Oner has shocked Sauerland Event by winning today’s purse bid for the intercontinental middleweight championship between Sauerland’s prospect Dominik Britsch and former i/c champion Benjamin Simon at the IBF office in New Jersey.

Oner’s winning bid was 183,000.- US-Dollars while Sauerland was hoping to get the nod with 131,400.- US-Dollars.

"We had told Sauerland before that we have investors in Turkey who are interested in this bout", says Oner. "We made them a very good offer but they refused because they said that they don’t want to fight in Turkey. I guess now they have to... Our date is set for March 9th in my hometown Tekirdag."

Benjamin Simon and his trainer and manager Robert Rolle were happy with the purse bid result as well. "Actually we don’t care where we fight – as long as we get our hands on Britsch", states Rolle. "We were preparing for February 25th and we were ready to fight at their show. But, of course, this is even better for us. Going to Turkey with Ahmet is like a home fight for us and we will take the belt from Britsch. We thank Ahmet and ARENA for their support and their trust in us."

Eurosport will broadcast the show live on March 9th from Tekirdag.