WITHFirst of all the good news: Sebastian Formella is doing reasonably well. The 33-year-old professional boxer from Hamburg got a lot on his ears on Saturday evening in the empty Wembley Stadium in London, as he would say in his less circumstantial way. But the damage in the 24th comparison of his career (22 wins, 2 defeats) is apparently limited to a severely swollen left eye. The welterweight was able to explain to his supervisors the day after with clear diction how disappointed he is with his performance. During the preparation on the Elbe, where he also practiced with former world champion Jack Culcay, according to eyewitnesses, he actually looked much better.
Formella’s clear point defeat over ten rounds (91: 100, 91:99 and 92:99) against the favorite Conor Benn, son of the multiple world champion Nigel Benn, concluded a strange week. His entire team had to go into 72-hour individual quarantine in London after a positive corona test, which was later corrected. For him, who loves being around people, that means: 72 hours cooped up in a hotel room with gymnastics and rope jumping.
Already in the first round of the duel for the Continental title of the WBA, blatant differences emerged: What Formella brought to the ring in terms of cleaner technology was discovered by Benn Jr. more than balanced by dynamic actions, lightning-fast jabs and the harder punch. The German outsider soon chose a very courageous path: he kept going in the middle and near distance in order to forestall the nine years younger opponent with his own series of hits.
This strategy had only a short-term effect: irritated for a few moments, the Briton soon knew how to respond with far more precise, effective hits. At times it looked to the man from the Elbe as if someone was fighting with a felt-tip pen against an admiral with a rattling saber. Under the circumstances, Formella could count it as a success that he got the hit over all laps in the thunderstorm. “But that cannot be his claim,” said manager Steffen Soltau.
On the other hand, it should be questioned what is possible under these circumstances. The smart athlete with the Uwe-Seeler charm is revered on the Elbe as “Hafen-Basti” because he sees his job as a dual model. During the week he works in shifts on a container bridge in the port, where he pulls thousands of containers away every day. Before and after, he trains according to the ambitious plans of his trainer Mark Haupt.
Together, the two at least made it to the world title of the little important IBO association last year. Nonetheless, none of them would think of it as proof of the conquest of the world’s best. Formella scratched it when he flew to Los Angeles three months ago to give former world champion Shawn Porter a brave fight. But he also lost there on points. It should go on like this. The effort of a part-time professional is not enough to reach the top.
With this in mind, the Hamburg promoter Erol Ceylan and manager Soltau may have to consider where to go. Your protégé cannot go through such thunderstorms every three months. Soltau also sees this dilemma: “We will not allow him to continue fights in which he takes too much.” This week, he and his brave client will remain in quarantine at home. Then one goes back to the office – and the other back to the port.
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