The big Universe Boxing Night at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle in Düsseldorf is getting closer, and the list of top-class fights is growing longer. Boxing fans should mark June 3rd on their calendars. The cruiserweight bout between Rostam Ibrahim and Leon Bunn promises to be top-notch. Another spectacle could be a heavyweight fight between Mohamed Abdallah and Senad Gashi.
In the cruiserweight division, Rostam Ibrahim, a hard-hitting fighter from Essen, and Leon Bunn, who struggled with his loss in the IBO World Championship fight against Irishman Padraig McCrory, will face off.
Bunn had a disastrous world title fight where everything went wrong. Dates were postponed beforehand, which led to coaching changes, and during the fight itself, Bunn claims he was hit in the back of the head in round two and can’t remember the rest. He pondered his future for a long time. He then sought a new boxing stable, and with a victory over Ibrahim and a possible win of the WBC International Silver belt, he hopes to compete for another world title. The fact that his opponent could be Artur Beterbiev doesn’t bother him. “It’s a dream to be able to compete against the best.” Undefeated Rostam Ibrahim shares the same view. Bunn and Ibrahim have already sparred many rounds against each other and know each other’s fighting styles very well.
The fact that Abdallah, a former kickboxing world champion, is not afraid to face experienced knockout artist Senad Gashi in his second fight shows self-confidence and a great fighting spirit. He initially chose Ben Adwubi as his opponent, but after some back and forth, promoter Ismael Özen Otto decided to replace Adwubi with Gashi, making Abdallah’s task more challenging. After some turmoil in recent years, the 1.95m (6’5″) giant has decided to fully commit to traditional boxing.
However, with Senad Gashi, a fighter (27 fights, 24 wins, 23 of them by knockout) with explosive power is coming his way, even though Gashi is expected to weigh about 20 kilograms (44 lbs) less. This didn’t bother him with most of his opponents. His goal, however, is to compete at the top of the newly established bridgerweight division, a class between cruiserweight and heavyweight. He is listed in the WBC’s top ten world rankings for that weight class.
Also fighting for the WBC International Silver belt in Düsseldorf will be Croatian Luka Plantic and Duisburg’s Yusuf Kangül in the super middleweight division, as well as Bujar Tahiri from Landau against Swiss Andranik Habobyan in the middleweight division. In the heavyweight division, there will be another exciting match between undefeated Cuban Jose Larduet and Ali Kiydin. More matchups are close to being finalized.