05.10.06: When
Czech star Lukas Konecny defends his WBO Intercontinental
superwelterweight crown (which at one point was held by Fight
Production’s Gotthard Hinteregger) next Tuesday at the
T-Mobile Arena in Prague (live on Eurosport), the fight will
bring back precious memories for one particular man in the
champion’s corner. Belonging to the team headed by German
trainer Werner Kirsch is Olaf Schroeder of Fight Production in
the capacity of cutman.
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Schroeder’s
relationship with the Konecny family dates back 13 years, when
Lukas’ father Milan turned professional with Schroeder as his
manager. At that time, Lukas was just 15 years old, but already
an aspiring amateur with the desire to emulate his father’s
successes.
Certainly,
Milan paved the way for his son in the professional ranks and
did it the hard way no less. He had already celebrated his 33rd
birthday at the time of his pro debut, but went an amazing 11-1
(5 KO’s) in his first dozen outings nevertheless. Five of his
victims had never lost a paid fight before and only three
opponents spotted negative records at the time of their fight.
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“Milan
boxed his whole career for Fight Production and I have brillant
memories of the times we had together and of Milan himself and
his whole family,” says Schroeder, who met a teenaged Lukas
for the first time 10 years ago.
The
first generation Konecny fought all over Europe, even beyond,
and the list of countries in which he climbed through the ropes
reads like a jet-setters travelling list: Germany, Austria,
Netherlands, Czech Republic, Finland, USA, England, Belgium,
Poland, France and Hungary saw Milan in action. However, even
though Milan could hold his own very well with world-class
performers like Chris Johnson, Thomas Ulrich or Alexander
Petkovic, he probably left it a bit too late to switch to paid
boxing to emulate his amateur achievements.
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Fighting
very much on the road, his ledger also contains the unavoidable shaft
job, but no matter what, the desire to win never left the elder Konecny.
In October 2003, already 43 years of age, Milan co-headlined a show in
his hometown of Usti, winning the Czech cruiserweight title with a
bloody 10-round decision. The other main eventer made the promotion
write Czech sports history for it was none other than son Lukas, who won
the European Union title that night.
Lukas,
now 31-2 (15 KO’s), had turned pro two years earlier with German
outfit SES Boxing, a partner of Fight Production. Even though this was
expected to be Milan’s farewell party, it took a drubbing by Madjid
Zaim in the summer of 2004 to convince Milan to finally leave the
fighting to his son. Already a grandfather, Milan left behind a
respectable career mark of 22-13-1 (11 KO’s), winning four national
championships along the way. |
Photo:
Milan Konecny.
“I
lost count how many times I urged Milan to retire, but every
time he came back with an unexpected win and thus stole my
arguments,” smiles Schroeder, who is happy to be part of the
on-going boxing tradition within the Konecny clan. “It’s
great to now be in Lukas corner as well, especially since I
can’t remember one single bad experience with the Konecny’s
and I enjoy every minute of it. I know his whole family and we
always have a lot of private things to talk about. The only
thing that disturbes me about Lukas is, he only has (three)
daughters so far, so I can’t be sure I will ever make it three
generations that I work with!”, laughs the German.
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