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Ban forces Swedes to fight in Germany
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- For the first time, two Swedes will fight for a world championship title as challenger Paolo Roberto takes on WBO title holder Armand Krajnc. But Saturday's bout -- coined a hate match by Swedish media -- will take place in Germany, and not in Sweden, as both contestants would have preferred. "It's the only question that I and Armand agree on," Roberto said. "That it's ridiculous that we can't meet in the Globe Arena (in Stockholm) instead of here." A ban dating back to 1970 -- 11 years after Ingemar Johansson won the world heavyweight title at Yankee Stadium in New York -- prohibits professional boxers from fighting and even sparring in Sweden. Boxers can only enter the ring as amateurs. Pro boxing also is banned in Norway, Iceland, North Korea and Cuba. Roberto, a charismatic former kickboxer with Italian ancestry and plans to run for parliament next year, has openly challenged the ban by throwing an exhibition fight in downtown Stockholm this past summer and by sparring regularly in the Swedish capital. No action was taken against him. Krajnc practices in Germany but has said he would prefer to fight in Sweden. In a recent interview with newspaper Expressen, he called the ban "idiotic." The ban can't keep the fights off television. The Krajnc-Roberto fight will be available to Swedish cable viewers on pay-per-view. Pro boxing was banned in Sweden after a study completed in 1969 found that it involved severe and even life-threatening injuries, had a brutalizing effect on the audience and was governed by unsound economic interests. It forces Swedish fighters who want to become professionals to go abroad, Pedersen said. Twenty-eight Swedes are fighting as professionals, according to the Swedish Boxing Federation.
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