Last Saturday Marcos Nader (16-0, 2 KOs) won his tune-up fight in convincing fashion. The Austrian came out on top against Damien Bertu from France with a clear unanimous points decision at the Stechert Arena in Bamberg, Germany. Along with the victory now come his first shot for a professional title. Nader challenges the current EU Champion Roberto Santos (18-6-2, 10 KOa) in front of his home crowd at the Multiversum Schwechat, Austria, close the airport of Vienna
“I am very excited,” said the 22-year-old. “Since turning pro I have only fought in Austria on a few occasions.” But against Santos the support of the domestic fans could prove to be vital as the fight against Santos won’t be an easy one. It seems as if the 30-year-old Spaniard is in the shape of his life. After fighting out a draw against the German middleweight hope Dominik Britsch back in February, the “Tiger of Benidorm” went one step further on September 15 in Bamberg. Santos won the rematch against Britsch by TKO in round 8 and destroying all hopes of the German middleweight of becoming the EU Champion.
“I saw both fights,” said Nader. “I paid close attention to the fight in Stuttgart before last weekend’s bout and I was present for the rematch last Saturday, when Santos won the belt.”
The middleweight continues: “I am really looking forward to it. I know that Santos is a tough guy but now after beating Britsch he is in the eye of the public. The fans know that November 2 will be a great night of boxing.”
Tickets for the big fight at the Multiversum Schwechat can be purchased at www.multiversum-schwechat.at and www.boxen.com at the beginning of next week.
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.
