Knezevic
Scared Of Another Hiding!” says Manager
04.09.06: “Old
cougars hunt best,” smiled newly crowned Austrian
superwelterweight champion Gotthard
‘The Cougar’ Hinteregger
and the 39-year-old continues his comeback with an appearance at
Vienna’s City Hall on October 28. Hinteregger’s fight will
constitute the main attraction of an amateur meeting, but
further professional fights could still be added to the bill.
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According
to manager Olaf Schroeder, a routine 6-rounder is on the
agenda. “This is Gotti’s third fight with his new,
old trainer Johann Senfter and unbelievable as it
sounds, he is still learning new tricks. We want to get
in position for another international title fight, the
last hurrah so to speak, so its important to keep
winning now,” said the head of Fight Production.
Photo: "The
Cougar" working out.
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Off
the cards, at least for now, is a possible Austrian title
rematch with Gojko Knezevic, whom Hinteregger, 26-10-1 (14
KO’s), stopped in four rounds last June. Knezevic started
furious in that fight, winning the first three rounds, but quit
the very moment the cool veteran hit back at him in the fourth.
That same night, Knezevic and all his team, including family,
screamed for a return and his trainer Edip Sekovic, the former
European champion, even announced publicly: “We will offer
Hinteregger a super purse for a rematch!”.
“Complete
bull,” Hinteregger’s manager Schroeder angrily responds.
“I did not hear one single word from them anymore! Sekovic did
not offer nothing, much less a ‘super purse’ and that proves
Knezevic doesn’t have the bottle to face Gotti and another
hiding again. Instead, Knezevic appears one month later and what
happens? He’s getting a gift decision against a pro debutant!
Why can’t he just admit that Gotti broke him?”. The
27-year-old Knezevic, however, hasn’t always been as quit as
lately. Remember that he idled the formerly world-ranked
Hinteregger with the threat to “take his head off” before
their clash in June. How times are a-changing…
Hinteregger’s
up-coming outing in Vienna will remarkably be sponsored by the
Austrian Boxing Federation (FVA). “The FVA’s main objectives
are to supervise and further professional boxing in our
country,” said president Willibald Palatin, “and when we
make profits, like we have done very well recently, it is our
duty to re-invest into Austrian boxing, instead of just sitting
on the money. We are very happy about what Hinteregger has done
for Austrian boxing in the last few years, thus it is with great
pleasure that the FVA can pay him back by funding a fight for
him at this crucial point in his career.”
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