IBF super middle champ Lucian Bute is almost on for a voluntary defence against Dane Mads Larsen with date and site to be determined. No contracts are signed yet though and surprisingly, the final hurdle to keep the fight from happening appears to be Larsen. 

Chris Meyer, Sauerland's CEO, tells sporten.dk in Denmark that Bute has accepted to fight Mads but that Larsen is still asking for too much money. Meyer then says time is running out. One of the things that makes it a rush could be the purse bids scheduled for January 6 for an IBF eliminator between Librado Andrade and another Sauerland fighter, Vitaly Tsypko of Ukraine. Should Larsen not accept the conditions to fight Bute it's difficult to see Tsypko doing the same as he then avoids a dangerous eliminator and can go directly to a world title fight. 

WBA welter champ Yuri Nuzhenko is in negotiations for a Ukrainian mega fight against WBA I/C ruler Vyacheslav Senchenko. Nuzhenko is promoted by K 2 East in Kiev while Senchenko is backed by Union Boxing Team in Donetsk. A Nuzchenko-Senchenko fight could go ahead in Donetsk in March. Senchenko is also the official challenger for EBU titleholder Rafael Jackiewicz. 

Nadia Raoui´s rematch against WIBA fly queen Eileen Olzewski that was scheduled for January 24 in Riesa is off after the champion was injured in training.  

WBO I/C welter champ Christian Bladt's defence against Italian Sven Paris is now on again after two postponements. Bladt-Paris goes ahead January 30 in Frosinone. 

Arena's Cuban heavyweight Odlanier Solis makes his US debut January 9 in Primm, NV, and will now face Kevin 'Big Man' Burnett. Solis started his career in sensational fashion but has  recently become more human. Stablemate Yuriorkis Gamboa will headline in what is the final step before facing Elio Rojas for the interim WBC featherweight title. Gamboa is in against Roger Gonzales.  

Former WBA super middle challenger Dimitri Sartison continues the way back with an eight-rounder against Russian Vasily Andriyanov January 10 in Magdeburg on the undercard to Universum's Hungarian evening at the Boerdeland Hall headlined by WBO light heavy king Zsolt Erdei. On the same bill Thomas Ulrich returns at cruiser and faces fellow-German Armin Dollinger, who comes in fresh off an upset stoppage of Kai Kurzawa. 

German light heavy Juergen Braehmer was all set for an eight-rounder against Rubin Williams January 17 in Duesseldorf, less than eight weeks after challenging Hugo Hernan Garay for the WBA title in a very tough (and good) fight. Braehmer, however, was injured by a piece of glass New Year's Eve in Schwerin and had to be stitched.

Russian cruiser Aleksander Alekseev, promoted by Universum, squares off against Argentinean Victor Emilio Ramirez for the WBO interim title January 17 on the Duesseldorf bill. Alekseev, 16-0 (15), is one of the brightest talents in Europe.