WBF
‘World’ Crown At Stake Dec. 9
| 19.11.2005:
It’s
official! Long-standing rivals Jozsef
Matolcsi and Austria hero Gotthard
Hinteregger will meet in a
rubber match, which takes place as
soon as December 9 in Scotland –
and the biggest dream of ‘The
Cougar’, as Hinteregger is
nicknamed, is about to finally
come true at the ripe old age of
38, because the price for the
winner is going to be the WBF
‘world’ superwelterweight
title! |
|
Manager
Olaf Schroeder of Fight Production was
working feverishly behind the scenes
after Hinteregger had lost his IBF
Intercontinental title to Marco Schulze
in October and came up with the goods!
 |
“When
Olaf first told me about his idea
of a third fight with Matolcsi, I
thought it was a bit crazy,”
said the 25-8-1 (12 KO’s) Vienna
native, “but after some hours,
it started to make more and more
sense and I told Olaf that same
day ‘Go ahead, let’s see who
will win our series’. The fact
that it’s for the vacant WBF
title is just great, great, great.”
Photo:
Next belt the 'world' -
Hinteregger, with trainers
Reiterer (left) and Bendl, is now
gunning for the Jackpot. |
When
Matolcsi’s Polish promoter Krzysztof
Zbarski contacted Hungarian television
channel RTL Klub, they immediately gave
the ‘Thumps Up’ for December 9 in
Kirkcaldy, Scotland and Zbarski quickly
came to an agreement with reigning WBF
champion Brice Faradji (the Frenchman
had outpointed Matolcsi for the title),
who voluntarily stepped aside to allow
Hinteregger vs Matolcsi III to be for
his title in exchange for Faradji
becoming mandatory challenger for the
eventual winner.
The
first two fights between the pair were
classics, so it came as no surprise that
RTL Klub wanted to televise the rubber
match and decisions came about more
quickly than boxing is accustomed to. In
October 2004 in England, Hinteregger
more or less played with Matolcsi,
knocking him down four times – only to
catch a home-run left hook that was
screaming murder from the Hungarian in
round eight. Fight over!
The
fact that this thriller was voted IBF
Intercontinental Fight of the Year and
Boxing News British Fight of the Year #
2 was little consolation for the
hard-luck hero from Austria. However, in
April of this year, Hinteregger
sensationally came back to gain revange
in a no-knockdown affair in Germany (for
both the WBO and IBF Intercontinental
titles), which ended in a hotly disputed
12-round split decision.
Now
both are gearing up to find out once and
for all who the champion is… If their
history is anything to go by, Scottish
fans are in for a real treat. |
