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WBF Promoters Introduced |
Robert Safrani (France),
Boxing Center |
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Posted on June 4 2012
By: Clive Baum |
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When a little-known
featherweight from Algeria
called Robert Safrani punched
his way to the North African
title in his division and later
added the same crown at
lightweight during the 40ies of
the last century it was hard to
imagine what the future held in
store for him.
Yes, he had rubbed shoulders a
few times with legendary French
idol and world middleweight
champion Marcel Cerdan, who of
course is also of Algerian
descent, during training, but
boxing would take Safrani on a
journey which today sees him as
a respected WBF promoter and
partner. |
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After settling in the Marseille
aera, life led the former
fighter first into politics.
During the post-war reign of the
famous Marseille mayor Gaston
Deferre, Robert Safrani was a
member of his staff, which was
led by Victor Mellan with whom
Safrani formed an unbreakable
friendship. Later, Mellan was
himself elected mayor of Pennes
Mirabeau, a smaller city close
to Marseille.
One night around the change of
the millennium, the two friends
– the mayor and the ex-pugilist
– had one of their many private
meetings and suddenly, Mellan
asked Safrani why there was no
boxing club in Pennes Mirabeau.
Neither knew the answer and thus
the idea was born to create an
association of the noble art in
the city. In February 2000 the
forming of the “Boxing Center”
with Robert Safrani as chairman
was announced amidst big media
interest in the town, after all,
Safrani was well-respected and
his connection to boxing
well-know. |
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Two months later, on April 28,
in the presence of many popular
political and sporting
personalities, the gym of the
“Boxing Center” was opened and
celebrated in the evening with
Safrani’s inaugural promotion,
which featured three
professional bouts and six
amateur fights. It was a hugely
successful day and led to the
club becoming quickly a fixture
in the youth’s sports
enterprises with many new
fighters joining from Pennes
Mirabeau as well as from other
parts of the region.
The latest WBF championship
staged by Safrani last April in
Pennes Mirabeau, the
Intercontinental
lightheavyweight title between
Nadjib Mohammedi and Mohamed
Belkacem, was the 40th
show staged by “Boxing Center”
and many title bouts took place
during that time in the city.
Equipped with a mobile ring, the
“Boxing Center” promotes boxing
as well as sports in general in
all parts of the aera and takes
part in many sports functions in
the greater Marseille region. |
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Now 86 year of age, Safrani
still goes strong and enjoys his
participation in the game that
took him from being an unknown
fighter in Algeria to a popular
embassador for the sport of
boxing in France. On June 15, he
promotes the all-French WBF
world lightheavyweight title
bout which sees Doudou Ngumbu
making his first defence against
the aforementioned Mohammedi.
Ain't no stopping Robert Safrani...
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