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1.11.2005:He
fought valiantly, got DSF television impressed
enough for them to demand from promoter SES
Boxing to bring him back sooner rather than
later – but still the „Phoenix-From-The-Ashes-Story“
of Austria’s Gotthard ‘The Cougar’
Hinteregger met a hard-to-swallow speedbump
when he lost his IBF Intercontinental
superwelterweight crown last Saturday to Marco
Schulze on an 11th round stoppage.
“I
know I had all the aces in my hand,” said
Hinteregger, who – aside from a flash
knockdown in the dying seconds of an otherwise
dominant first round – started brightly, but
got more and more drawn away from his gameplan
and admitted he more or less gifted the win to
the German champion. Schulze moved forward all
the time, ignoring the champion’s punches, and
his wear-‘em-down tactics obviously paid
dividends when Italian referee Angelo Musone
stopped Hinteregger in round eleven at the TURM
Erlebniscity in Oranienburg near Berlin and
close to the challenger’s hometown.
Although
Hinteregger declined to punch back, he was
hardly hit by clean shots and the IBF
implemented their strange rule of asking a
referee to stop a fight, when the supervisor
feels the boxer behind on points can’t win by
knockout. That fact that ‘The Cougar’ was
actually too far behind on two cards (after 10
rounds) to clinch a decision was met with
surprise by most everyone. Marco Schulze’s
coach Werner Papke claimed:
“Before
the final (11th) round, I told Marco
in the corner that he must win the last two
rounds clearly to have any chance of getting the
verdict! Nobody was behind anymore than one, two
points in this fast-paced fight.” That is
exactly how judge Matteo Fratini of Italy saw it
(Schulze a one point-lead) and even IBF
supervisor Benedetto Montella simply shook his
head at the way Alain Hemelaars (Belgium) and
Manfred Küchler (Germany) interpreted the
action.
Still,
there were little complains from the Austrian
corner, although FVA president Willibald Palatin
was unhappy with the stoppage. “We are still
proud of Gotti and what he did for boxing,”
said Palatin at ringside, “I hope he comes
back, because he still has a lot to offer to
Austrian boxing and we all like him very much.”
At
38 years of age, the options are certainly
limited – then again, Gotti, now 25-8-1 (12
KO’s), came back from a hopeless situation
before, a bit like Evander Holyfield used to
surprise everyone the very moment people thought
he’s done. It took Hinteregger just a good
night’s sleep to come to the conclusion that
his career is not over just yet. A
t
breakfast the next morning, his mind was
focussed on the future already: “I have no
clue why God keeps on knocking me down, then
somehow helps me to get up again. It seems to
make little sense now, but one day I’ll find
out. I will battle back and I’m not too old to
work on my mistakes, which cost me this fight.
It’s up to my manager Olaf Schroeder now, but
he did such a brilliant job with me since we
teamed up in 2003 – we will figure out
a way back!”
Surely,
it’s too early to speculate on ‘The
Cougar’s’ next move, but don’t be
surprised, if 2006 might bring a rematch between
new champion Schulze and old champion
Hinteregger, because both earned each others
respect. “We will see…”, was the comment
of Schroeder, and that surely means that ideas
are already swirling in his head. In any case,
it’s safe to say that ‘The Cougar’ is not
a toothless tiger just yet…
Both
Hinteregger (Fight of the Year, vs. Matolcsi I)
and Schroeder (European Matchmaker of the Year)
received their IBF awards at the show in
Oranienburg, which they were both not able to
accept personally at the recent IBF Convention
due to the preparation for this fight.
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