French BCOP won the purse bids in Rome for the right to stage the fight for the vacant EBU lightweight title between Yvan Mendy (46-5-1) and Gianluca Ceglia (16-3-1). The fight will go ahead in April with a date and site to be announced.

BCOP bid 36,400 Euro and it will be split 50/50.

The winner will inherit Finn Edis Tatli as mandatory challenger. Mendy, who is a big favorite to beat Ceglia, lost to Tatli back in  2015 but it was a close call and a rematch will be very interesting.

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German super welterweight and IBF # 2 Jack Culcay (29-4) returns to action on March 11 in Berlin after close to 18 months out and takes on Italian Khalil El Harraz (14-2-1) in a non title ten rounder.

Also on the bill is big (300 lbs) heavyweight Granit Shala (10-0) who may get a decent test from French veteran Zine Eddine Benmakhlouf (23-6-1).

As previously mentioned the show goes at the AGON Sportpark and is streamed by the AGON network.

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While Universum announced that heavyweight Zhan Kossobutsky (17-0) would fight Frenchman Johann Duhaupas (39-6) a few weeks ago Duhaupas' manager Medhi Ameur didn't confirm the contest until yesterday. -  "I like to announce a fight when the contracts are signed," states Ameur.

Kossobutskyi-Duhaupas is for the vacant WBC Int'l title and headlines Universum's show on February 19 in Hamburg, Germany.

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Being mentioned as a possible opponent for WBC king Tyson Fury certainly helps and The Nordic Nightmare, Robert Helenius, has climbed up the ratings. In August 2021 he was #20, in November he's ranked #13 and in the latest edition the WBA Gold champ is #12 - without fighting.

New York based Swedish heavyweight Otto Wallin has been on a similar journey. He was close to a fight against the WBC Interim champ Dillian Whyte but then Whyte pulled out with an injury.

Meanwhile, Wallin was # 19 in August and is now # 13 in the WBC ratings.

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Hungarian Felix Racz has made the transition from being the leading promoter in Hungary to a supervisor for the IBO

- "As a promoter you have to be in the foreground, and you have to enjoy doing PR and selling the event. As a supervisor you have to be in the background and make sure things run smoothly," says Racz, who promoted boxing in Hungary and abroad for 23 years.

- "However as a supervisor one must understand the business of boxing, be a good mediator and solve the problems that come up along the way," adds Racz on the difference between supervising and promoting..

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Swedish cruiserweight champ Samo Jangirov (7-2-1) has had some bad luck lately with fights, with bouts on Dec 29 and February 5 canceled late. He's now accepted a fight on a week's notice and travels to the Trump Turnpike Resort in Scotland and squares off against David Jamieson (7-1) on February 18 with the vacant IBO International title at stake.

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WBC Francophone featherweight champion Christ Esabe (10-0) defends the title against Argentinian Nicolas Nahuel Botelli (10-5) on Saturday (Feb 19) in Les Mureaux (France). If all goes well Esabe will have a spot on the undercard to the Tony Yoka vs Martin Bakole fight, May 14 in Paris.