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View Full Version : Is Universum in trouble?


man_on_the_spot
07-14-2009, 07:39 AM
They realy got roughed up in the last year and looking at their current roster, I can not see them recovering anytime soon. In terms of male boxing stars, they only have Felix Sturm going for them (oh and before anybody thinks, that is supposed to turn into one of those stupid "Gevor got robbed" threads: leave that out of here. I had FS winning 115:113 btw).
Who do they have left to head a card and draw ratings besides Sturm:


Chagaev has nowhere to go and looks done: Valuev won't fight him and he has no shot against either Klitschko
Dimitrenko is flat out not good enough and they will have to build him up again, maybe let him box on the european level
Krasniqi has had enough chances and looks done
Firat Arslan lost his title and got beaten up in the process. He is already pretty old as it is and has been inactive for almost a year now
Garay just lost his title in an upside to a nobody. Without a title he is almost worthless
Alex Alekseev was their great hope for a future big time draw with his style and talent. But the debacle against Ramirez means a set-back of 1-2 years, if he ever gets there
Khoren Gevor got burnt in the STurm fight and has nowhere to go
fighters below middleweight are not really marketable in Germany, so unfortunatley they won't benefit much from Sidorenko, Kotelnik and Dzinziruk, even though they are very good fighters.

So that leaves them with:


Felix Sturm: Their only true star
Their several female fighters
Jürgen Brähmer: Simply not as good as advertisied, but now is in a position where he HAS to produce in order to hold Universum afloat. Not very marketable though due to being a dumbass
Zsolt Erdei: Great fighter, but already showing serious signs of decline. Has maybe 1-2 fights left as a headliner. Is there to be taken.
Karolin Balzsay: He will have to head some shows, but unless he bangs out some big victories, he will not be much of a draw.
Denis Boytsov: Looks very promising so far and might be asked to head some smaller cards. I don't know, if he is ready for that and they are better off building him up slowly. I think he 1-2 years away
Sebastian Zbik: Won a title with a dodgy decision in a very ungly fight. They probably have hoped for him, but he is not worldclass and will have to be protected and milk that title for a while.

And that's it. I think they are obligated to do something like 13-15 shows per year and I don't know, I just do not see it happening. If your hopes hang on Brähmer and Zbik, you are in big trouble. They basically have no choice but play it safe with Sturm ang get 3 shows per year out of him. I wonder why they did not make a play for Kessler, they need someone good in a hurry...

Serenata
07-14-2009, 08:47 AM
Universum also lost their TV contract with the ZDF. They are clearly on the decline. ;)

LHL
07-14-2009, 08:48 AM
Yeah terrible year for Universum

Sloan299
07-14-2009, 01:15 PM
They are in trouble certainly. Their only fighters with some popularity are Felix Sturm and two women, Susi Kentikian and Ina Menzer. They lost their tv partner (their contract still runs until the summer of 2010), but they will have a hard time finding any tv station interested to show as many cards as they have at the moment.

Odo
07-14-2009, 02:04 PM
Kohl and his footmen somehow lack the knowledged how to promote a fighter really succesfully.
I mean he has quite a bunch of outstanding fighters in his stable,but most of his fighters are still totally unknown to a casual sport fan in Germany,let alone abroad.
Sauerland has been able to put truly mediocre fighters like Murat in the limelight.They get tv exposure and most of them seem to know how to sell themselves both in and outside the ring.
Kohl has a huge diamond in his hands aka Boytsov,but doesnt seem to have a clue how to brighten him up.
Very exciting young heavy weight fighter-one of the most promising young heavies on this globe.
Nevertheless,he enters the arena with the tunes of a very annoying song,rarely gets tv exposure nor does he showboat a little bit as he used to do at the beginning of his career.
A banger who has to box and seriously stick to boxing!
Damn! Young Boytsov should move over to the usa and leave Universum Box Promotion.
Kotelnik,Dzindziruk,Braehmer,and so on and so on.There are so many good fighters in Kohl's stable,better fighters than Sturm,but who has ever seen them apart from us hardcore fans?

LHL
07-14-2009, 03:04 PM
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Theres his full stable a couple of months ago that was a top group

Rick G
07-16-2009, 04:33 AM
Definitely they are not in trouble. They have lots of boxrec Top-10 ranked boxers. And don't forget the Spotlight stable which is owned by Don Kohl as well. Maybe they need some good heavies - besides Boytsov there are only has-beens like Krasniqi.
But one thing is for sure: If they try to sell their fights via pay TV (e.g. Sky), they will get lost b/c I don't think the casual fan (me included!) is willing to pay extra money to see a fight which will be available on YouTuube the very next day. In Germany there are 5 channels who currently brodcast or broadcasted boxing live in free TV, so if ZDF does not want to have the really outstanding market shares, another channel will step in.

Ivo
07-16-2009, 06:58 AM
What about Marcos Maidana? He is with Universum, right? He is quite big after his fight with Ortiz.

Farmboxer
07-17-2009, 03:50 AM
Kohl was holding the Klitschkos back which is why they left.

rapidfire
07-17-2009, 05:11 AM
Kohl was holding the Klitschkos back which is why they left.

Kohl made the Klitscko´s what they are.

Odo
07-17-2009, 05:49 AM
What about Marcos Maidana? He is with Universum, right? He is quite big after his fight with Ortiz.

Nah,Ivo! Maidana is still totally unknown in Germany.
He beat Ortiz in spectacular fashion against all the odds on Ortiz' home turf over there in the states,but sorrowly and unfortunetely that victory hasnt catapulted him into the limelight.
Nobody in Germany cares a fig for him!:-(

tonsetzer
07-18-2009, 01:02 PM
In Germany there are 5 channels who currently brodcast or broadcasted boxing live in free TV, so if ZDF does not want to have the really outstanding market shares, another channel will step in.


Are you sure about that? Didnt Pro 7 abandon boxing totally? ARD is with Sauerland, RTL has the Klitschkos and i dont know if they are interested in another contract. Sat1...i dont know.
One thing is for sure, Universum does a horrible job in hyping up the fighters and giving them exposure. A guy like Dzinziruk is champion for years and nobody knows him here. Sure, the lighter weight divisions are not that marketable as the higher ones, but come on, they could have even tried a little.