There was talk this week about a Sept. 16 card in Stuttgart, Germany that would feature WBO top-ranked heavyweight contender Luan Krasnigi. Krasnigi would fight in front of his home crowd.
Reportedly, Krasnigi's opponent would be none other then our own Tony "The Tiger" Thompson, the NABO Heavyweight/WBC Continental Americas/Maryland State champ who is currently ranked sixth by the WBO and eighth by the WBC.
However, those plans were shot down by Krasnigi himself when he turned down the offer of his own promotion company, Universum, to do the bout. The following comes from Fightnews.com:
"On the way to another shot at a world championship, heavyweight Luan Krasniqi has rejected the offer of his promoter Universum to face a top opponent from the WBO rankings, thus making the planned September 16th event in Stuttgart impossible. As a result, with a heavy heart, the "Universum Champions Night" has finally been called off. 'Everything was prepared for Luan Krasniqi,' said promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl. 'The nice new Porsche Arena in Stuttgart was reserved, the other fights prebooked, the ticket sales and the posters were in preparation and now we must stop all that. Luan could have had his home match in Stuttgart and a victory would have paved the way to his next world title fight. However, after many rounds of negotiations he was determined not to accept our offer. Luan the Lion does not show his claws. It's a pity as his fans would have been happy and fired-up to see him in his hometown.'"
After this was announced, Thompson's promoter, Dan Goossen, stepped to the forefront and is petitioning the WBO for a contender's match involving Thompson and any other ranked opponent with the winner to face WBO Champ Serguei Lyakhovich. Once again, from Fightnews:
"Dan Goossen, promoter of world rated heavyweight Tony "The Tiger" Thompson, says he plans on filing an immediate petition with WBO President Francisco 'Paco' Valcarel as a result of the organization's top-ranked contender Luan Krasniqi rejecting a planned September 16th bout with Thompson in Germany. Goossen said he will request an eliminator between Thompson and any top available contender for the right to challenge champion Sergei Liakhovich in his mandatory title defense.
'You can't be a #1 contender and pull out of commitments like Krasniqi did and be rewarded,' said Goossen. 'He took himself out of the picture and the shot at the title. It's Tony Thompson's turn to show the world who he is.'
'I'd been hearing rumblings that Krasniqi was hesitant to fight Thompson, and unfortunately it was true,' said Nate Peake, Thompson's co-manager along with NBA All-star and New York Knick, Steve Francis. 'Tony has been in training camp preparing for the fight, anxious to go to Germany to take the next step in his career toward the title. This is a very disappointing development for Tony and Team Tiger. We'll just keep moving forward though.'
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7 comments:
Digital-you know how boxing works; think Krasniqi was scared to face Thompson, or think it was something else?
That is unfortunate for Tony on one hand he knows hes a looked at as a force to be reckoned with, but on the other hand those big pay days will be slow to come.
Both of you hit on something interesting.
I do believe Krasnigi was scared of Thompson. It would be a very dangerous bout for him even in his hometown.
Tony's in a similar situation to what Derrell Coley was in the mid-90's. Coley got to a point in his career where no one big in the welterweight division (Pernell Whitaker, Felix Trinidad, et al) wanted to fight him. The situation was made even worse when he lost to Oba Carr, because EVERYONE thought he won that bout.
The big difference between Coley and Thompson though, is that Tony has someone with some clout in the business looking out for him. Whether he succeeds or not, the fact that Dan Goossen made a statement about this situation could speak volumes.
Bear in mind, however, Goossen did do the ol' "Don King Stepover" when Thompson beat Dominick Guinn. Guinn was truly a Goossen-Tutor boxer. Thompson was not. Goossen is protecting his interest as well.
Coley did a get a big match with Oscar and like most fighters from here he lost the big win. Then what did he do? Blew the huge paycheck he got from there. Stop protecting these local fighters and call it like it is. Philly rules!
Hey everyone, Luan and anyone else SHOULD be scared of Tony!
By the time Coley got his bout with De La Hoya, he was past his prime. He had suffered through battles against Jaime "Rocky" Balboa, Pat Coleman and Kip Diggs.
No, Coley was not always the most focused of boxers, but he deserved a world title shot long before the De La Hoya matchup.
Krasniqi has sparred with Thompson before...he is definetly scarred. It would be foolish for Luan Krasniqi to step into the ring with a boxer whom dropped him twice with body shots. But look take fight or GET OUT THE WAY. MOVE!!!
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