Bendall books Euro title date

From the archive, first published Thursday 20th Apr 2006.

STEVE Bendall has got a crack at the European title in Germany on Saturday night.

The sharp-shooting southpaw from Poole discovered yesterday that he will challenge Sebastian Sylvester in Mannheim after Dirk Dzemski pulled out injured.

Bendall had been on standby for the fight and the English champion said: "This is the chance of a life time and I'm going to take it.

"I told the promoters when they rang me that I'm going there to cause a shock.

"The late call up might work in my favour. I sometimes train too hard when I know I've got a fight coming up and that hasn't been the case this time.

"I haven't been going flat out in the gym because I didn't think the fight was going to happen.

"My trainer has been really pleased with the way I've been looking in the gym and he says Sylvester is beatable.

"But I'm under no illusions. I know it's going to be hard to beat a German in his backyard."

Sylvester has been beaten before - he was flattened in the first round of his debut.

But the 25-year-old has won all 20 fights since then - eight inside the distance - and will be making his second defence of the title.

Bendall said: "I've got to take this chance. This is the break I've been waiting for."

A masterful boxer at his best, Bendall has been plagued by misfortune since turning professional in 1997 after an amateur career that brought him gold at a Multi Nations tournament in Liverpool and a place in the final of the ABA championships.

He suffered a dislocated shoulder in his second paid outing that kept him out of action for 18 months and a contractual wrangle further slowed his progress.