Tim Yilmaz did not box himself on Saturday, even if he looked just as exhausted as after ten rounds in the ring. The sweat glistened on his forehead, Yilmaz whirled around, greeted boxers and spectators, admonished fans who were not so strict about the Corona requirements. Saturday wasn’t even the most stressful day for Yilmaz, especially the weeks before that had given him sleepless nights. Countless times a day he took out his smartphone, checked the weather apps and was no smarter than before. First the meteorologists reported rainfalls, then squalls, then both, before the forecast was reversed and Yilmaz had to reckon with a heat front. Planning? “Almost impossible,” he said, which was annoying. For his “Rumble on Sugar Mountain”, the first open-air boxing event in Munich for years, there was no alternative to good weather.
Ultimately, main organizer Yilmaz got lucky. The first thunderstorms did not move over the city until late in the evening. Before: sunshine with pleasant temperatures. Sugar Mountain is actually located on the site of a former concrete factory in the Obersendling district, where a beer garden attracts townspeople who love to drink and a skate park and basketball court invite you to do sports. But that evening there was a festival atmosphere. What was up to Yilmaz and his team, who set up a boxing ring on the basketball court, provided seats all around, pulled up a mobile grandstand and presented ten fights to 500 paying guests at once.
A boxing event of this magnitude is rare in Munich, so the day was correspondingly stressful for the around 20 helpers from the Mariposa boxing club. Especially because Yilmaz was not only in demand as an organizer, but also looked after four boxers who train with him in the “Gym Yilmaz”. And yet, despite all the work, Yilmaz said: “I couldn’t have wished for better.”
The most prestigious fight took place between Alexander Rigas from Weilheim and Taras Golovashchenko. The two fought for the IBO Continental title in the super middleweight division. An important intermediate step on the way to a possible World Cup fight, as the 29-year-old Rigas said before the duel. Most of the audience was there because of him, many wore shirts with Rigas’ battle name: “The Great.”
But before “The Great” got into the ring, 18 other boxers faced each other in nine duels. Especially in the first fights, the audience interest was manageable. Which was also due to the diversity of the audience. While some die-hard martial arts fans stoically persisted in their seats during the first fights and discussed every action, there were many who primarily wanted to have a nice day. Finally meeting people again, finally a little bit of normality again. A DJ set the mood with electronic beats, and a bar provided the audience with drinks. At 4 p.m., a long queue formed in front of the issue.
Boxing should be back in town in September. If the delta variant doesn’t mind
The mood was cheerful, the spectators could tell how happy they were that something was happening again. Despite all the exuberance, however, the people remained pleasantly calm. The fans also adhered to the Corona rules after the first warning at the latest. “Our goal is to attract audiences that have nothing to do with boxing,” said Yilmaz. Otherwise the sport could not grow.
Yilmaz achieved this goal. And in the course of the afternoon, the audience’s interest shifted more and more towards the boxing ring. When the sun slowly disappeared behind the huge chimney of the old concrete factory and the DJ turned up a little louder, Fedor Michel made his way into the ring. Also a kind of local hero, Michel lives in Traunreut. The 19-year-old super middleweight comes from a boxing family, is trained by his father and knocked out his opponent in the first round. “Just great,” said Michel, who now has five wins and zero losses.
Munich’s Pietro Loriga was similarly euphoric, who won his home game and admitted: “The last time during Corona I was really bad.” He is all the happier that things are really starting again. Continue without fans? “Impossible,” said Loriga, 28, who was cheered by the audience when he jumped on the ropes after the fight and flexed his muscles.
The fans only fell silent for a moment during the main fight. Rigas gave his fans a great show, but he didn’t find his top form in the ring. Over ten laps he looked strangely inhibited. “I wasn’t clear in my head,” he confirmed, deeply bent after the judges declared Golovashchenko the winner. A hard blow for Rigas, he helped organize the event and sold tickets to the end. “I wouldn’t do that anymore,” he admitted, saying that the many side scenes had thrown him off course. For Rigas it was the second bankruptcy as a professional, he won 13 times.
Rigas is now on vacation, clearing one’s head, processing defeat. Yilmaz, on the other hand, is challenged again. In September there should be another professional event, possibly again in the fresh air, where the risk of infection is low. However, the spread of the delta variant makes planning more difficult, but something will be possible, says Yilmaz. Instead of the weather apps, he is now checking the corona numbers again.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
