Annoyed Klaus-Peter Kohl retracts rematch offer made to Freeman Barr

(Hamburg/Cottbus, 8 February 1999) Promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl of Hamburg's Universum Box-Promotion reacted very annoyed on comments made by American trainer Steve Canton, the coach of Florida based Freeman Barr. As a consequence he retracted his rematch offer.

Evander Freeman Barr lost by knockout in the fourth round to German Bert Schenk on 30th January in a fight for the vacant WBO world middleweight championship in Cottbus. Schenk hurt Barr with a left cross to the head and a body punch. Barr then turned away from the German and sank to a knee in the neutral corner. Barr made no indication of trying to get up before the referee reached the count of ten with 37 seconds left in the round.

"There was a high suspect of liniment or some kind of foreign substance in the eye that Freeman was blinding in the fourth round", coach Steve Canton pretended in an article of the local Florida newspaper NAPLENEWS last Tuesday.

This foreign substance, Canton continued to pretend, had been on the gloves of Bert Schenk.

"This beahavior is both insulting and unsportsmanlike", an annoyed Klaus-Peter Kohl, the promoter and manger of Schenk, replied today. "Schenk wore Barr down with hooks to the liver and landed clean punches to the head. Freeman Barr quit in the corner. If I was his manager I would not pay his purse, because he was acting."

"In the preceding rounds Bert was landing his left cross three times on the same place of Barr's forehead", Schenk's cornermen Michael Timm reported. "This softened Barr. He was unwilling to take further punishment."

Directly after the fight Barr's trainer was already complaining about a supposed head butt, but withdrew his claim after reviewing a slow motion replay of the broadcasting channel DF1.

"I offered Freeman Barr a rematch at the post fight press conference", Klaus- Peter Kohl said. "But I retract this offer now. I do not offer rematches to business partners who behave unsportsmanlike."


Fabian Weber
International Press Spokesman
Universum Box-Promotion GmbH
Am Stadtrand 27
22047 Hamburg
Germany
Tel: +49 40 696559-0
Fax:+49 40 696559-50

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