Khoren Gevor declared a free agent; Gevor-Macklin canceled

In Germany today, a court handed down a decision that could have wide-ranging implications among the German boxing elite.  According to Per Ake Persson, the German court has ruled that Khoren Gevor's contract with promotional powerhouse Universum violates civil rights law, and thus is null and void.  This makes Gevor a free agent.

If Gevor signed Universum's standard form of promotional contract, this may have a major effect on the German boxing scene.  Gevor is not the only Universum fighter who was trying to get out of his contract - Felix Sturm, Sergiy Dzinzurik and Gennady Golovkin have all filed similar cases against Universum, and some of their other major fighters, such as Zsolt Erdei, have grumbled loudly about their lack of satisfaction with the promoter.  Sturm and Dzinziruk have already signed with other promoters, pending the results of their litigation.  Expect a litany of similar suits to follow from other fighters who are unhappy with the promoter. 

This is starting to look like the beginning of the end for Universum, which has had a long line of problems.  Historically, they have been the biggest promoter in Germany for the last quarter century.  I have previously lambasted them for their poor matchmaking, and it looks like people are finally starting to take notice.  Not long ago, their TV contract with German television station ZDF lapsed, and ZDF declined to renew the contract.  In an effort to get their contract renewed, they started having their top prospects fight each other, which resulted in them putting most of their eggs in a few baskets. Some of these fighters, such as Alexander Dimitrenko and Dmitri Sartison, have subsequently lost, lowering their stock.  In addition, two of their other fighters, Juergen Braehmer and recently gifted titlist Vitali Tajbert, have had legal issues of their own that are being sorted out.  Without the potential free agents and jailbirds, their roster is seriously depleted, with fighters like Erdei, Denis Boytsov, Ruslan Chagaev and Alexander Alexeev serving as their biggest remaining draws.

As for Gevor, this means that his scheduled fight with Matthew Macklin for a European middleweight title is off for now.  Macklin's team didn't offer Gevor enough of a deal, so he's stepping aside for a fight.  The winner of Macklin against TBA, scheduled to take place on April 9, will then need to face Gevor within 90 days.