Pitters’ Euro title bid is KOd as champion ruled out by medical

Shakan Pitters…European title blow. Pic: Boxxer/Lawrence Lustig

A HAMMER blow for Shakan Pitters – his European light-heavyweight title fight is off after champion Daniel Blenda Dos Santos failed the medical.

 Birmingham’s former British champ will still appear on tomorrow’s (Friday’s) show at Sheffield’s Canon Medical Arena, it has been confirmed – but not for the big prize.

He’ll feature in an eight rounder against, I believe, Darwen, Lancashire’s Mickey Ellison. Shak needs to stay focused for that one: Ellison, with 15 wins in 23 bouts, is no slouch. What’s more, he boxed only weeks ago, while Pitters has been out for a year.

Details of the Frenchman Dos Santos’ medical issue are, as yet, unknown. It is hoped Shak will now get his crack at the European belt in March.

The news broke last night, with manager Jon Pegg tellingly me testily: “It’s not great, is it?” That’s an understatement.

I feel for 35-year-old Pitters, a true gentleman of the ring. He bravely went ahead with the bout following the loss, only days ago, of his father, Colin – a tough middle who faced the very best in a 19 bout career.

Colin, who fought from ’89 to ’95, fought world champ Richie Woodhall and was the first boxer to take him the distance, British champ Neville Brown (twice) and Commonwealth champ Steve Foster.

He was an accomplished, brave boxer matched tough. A full tribute to the man will follow.

Now Shakan’s hopes of gaining a prestigious belt tomorrow in honour of his father have been dashed – through no fault of his own.

I understand that the title fight for Pitters was almost salvaged, which only makes the blow more bitter. At the very death, European governing body the EBU approved Belgian Lee Ingelrest – unbeaten in 12 – as a suitable replacement for Dos Santos.

Because of the narrow time frame, he, however, was unable to fulfil the British Board of Control rule demanding a check weigh-in three days before a 12 rounder and was ruled out.

On a positive, it looks like Pitters and Ingelrest will fight for the belt on promoter GBM’s next London show.

The news is still very fresh and begs a number of questions.

It is unclear why Dos Santos was not medically cleared. But the fact he was stripped of the title so swiftly suggests a serious anomaly, which suggests a brain scan issue. If so, his career is in doubt.

On a personal note, I have known championships go ahead despite one of the boxers failing to make weight. In that scenario, the overweight fighter cannot claim the title if he wins. If his opponent wins, he is the beltholder.

Couldn’t that apply to the Pitters-Ingelrest match?

Paul Counihan, top trainer at Shakan’s Eastside gym, was understandably crestfallen when I contacted him this morning.

“Things like this make you wonder why we do it, why he (Pitters) does it. A year’s preparation, he’s put everything on hold, he’s packed his job in, his father has passed away. He held it in and has been a credit to his profession.

“In total, 150 rounds of sparring. I’ve never known him be so positive, he was totally confident. We had no doubt he was going to win the fight, we were sure he was going to win the fight.

“He will now not be fighting for the title and he’s done nothing wrong.”

Counihan insisted it is not all doom and gloom.

“The positive is they are trying to put it (the European title fight) on in London, either the end of March, beginning of June.

“And Shak’s been out for a year – he may need those eight rounds tomorrow. We’ll know on the night.

“Right now, he has to focus on the job in hand. He has to concentrate on Mickey Ellison.”