Fai Phannarai, WBF super bantamweight champion, will fight for world championship honors against Lena Venjacob in another limit at the Boxing Gala on May 1.
On May 1, Fai Phannarai will be back in the ring at “Große Freiheit 36” in Hamburg-St. Pauli. At the “Rumble on the Reeperbahn”, the reigning WBF world champion in super bantam (up to 55.225 kg) will fight for the federation’s world championship belt for the first time in a lower weight class – bantamweight (53.525 kg).
„Intensives Dauertraining macht es möglich“, heißt es dazu von den Veranstaltern (Boxen im Norden und Metropol Boxing) in einer Pressemitteilung. Die unbesiegte Phannarai (18-0, 6 K.o.) steht vor einer Herausforderung, trifft sie in Lena Venjacob (7-1) auf eine 18 Zentimeter größere Gegnerin, die sechs ihrer sieben siegreichen Kämpfe durch K.o. gewann.
Pavlov also reaches for WBF world championship belt
A total of eleven professional fights are on the fight card at Hamburg’s Kiez-Disco on May 1, including that of Alexander Pavlov. The Hamburg native will face Bosnian Dorde Krsmanovic (8-1-1) in his 30th professional fight (23 wins, 17 knockouts). In the twelve-round WBF welterweight title fight, Pavlov wants to fulfill his big dream of winning the world championship.
The comeback of Sebastian Formella (26-3, 14 knockouts) is also eagerly awaited. After a two-year break, the 38-year-old former IBO world champion is returning to the ring as a Hamburg fan idol. “Hafen-Basti” will meet Brazilian Eduardo Reis (25-15, 19 knockouts) in an eight-round fight in the semi-main event.
Local heroes and fan support from England
The appearance of Steven Robinson (7-3, 4 knockouts) should also create a great atmosphere at St. Pauli. 250 English fans from the Newcastle region are expected to accompany the “Disney Drago” to his WBF heavyweight title fight. Robinson’s opponent: Angelo Venjakob (8-4) from Osnabrück, who has won five of his eight fights by knockout. “We’re delighted to have friends from the boxing-loving island,” says promoter Thomas Nissen. “It’s always difficult to predict a win at heavyweight. At 2.03 meters, Steven is a very interesting boxer with a future.”
The organizers have also put a number of local heroes on the fight card, including Nenad Stancic, Razmik Sargsyan, Helmut Ofori and Flensburg’s Tom Gilde. Deep Melange, Ana-Maria Alfarino, Liz Cunningham, Serena Voss and Kalle Haverland have been announced as music acts in the “Große Freiheit”. The event will be hosted by ring announcer Ingo Rohrbach, former world champion Ina Menzer and presenter Marco Ostwald. The official weigh-in will take place on Thursday (April 30) from 3 p.m. in the legendary boxing cellar “Zur Ritze”, and the doors will open from 3 p.m. on May 1.
Text: Frank Schwantes