Hundt picks opponents and officials, waives anti-doping test for Tissen

Hundt picks opponents and officials, waives anti-doping test for Tissen
By: Ron Scarfone

On April 29, 2016, an article that I wrote was posted by East Side Boxing titled From a Beating to a Robbery. That article has detailed and thorough information about the triangle of corruption and collusion consisting of the officials (judges and referees), GBU President/WIBF Vice President Jurgen Lutz, and trainer/manager/promoter Maiki Hundt who are all involved in prolonging Tissen as world featherweight champion of the Global Boxing Union (GBU) and Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIBF). My previous article revealed that Hundt controls and selects who Tissen defends her titles against, but this decision is supposed to be made by the GBU/WIBF sanctioning bodies. This article will focus on the selection of the officials in Tissen’s fights and the waiving of the anti-doping test for Tissen. The chronology of this article begins in May 2016 which was when I began writing this follow-up article after receiving more information from the World Boxing Federation (WBF).

In my previous article, Lutz admitted to me that Hundt makes the decision as to who Tissen defends her titles against. Lutz also admitted that Tissen is not a world-class boxer. Tissen has been a world champion for several years which means that the main reasons why Tissen has accomplished this are because of the overall mediocre quality of her opponents and the officials consisting of judges and referees who are biased in favor of Tissen. When I asked Lutz about the biased judging, he said that the German Federation BDB (Bund Deutscher Berufsboxer) which is one of the major boxing commissions in Germany was responsible. However, the WBF claimed that the BDB did not select the judges for the Elina Tissen vs. Gabriella Busa fight in June 2015. The WBF was planning on sanctioning the fight along with the GBU and WIBF, but decided to pull out of the event because of the officials being selected by Hundt and also because of the required anti-doping test being waived.

According to the editor of East Side Boxing, my previous article about Tissen and Hundt received a ton of views from Germany. On the day that my article was posted, the website was viewed about 20 times as much as on normal days. That sounds to me like it was viewed tremendously, especially in Germany. Hundt felt the need to make a video response about it on Tissen’s Facebook page possibly because of the amount of people in Germany reading it. I believe that there was another reason though. After the article was published, I contacted all of the companies that sponsor Tissen. Below is the message that I sent to them.

To Whom It May Concern:

Your company sponsors female boxer Elina Tissen of Germany. I wrote an article that takes 90 minutes to read which describes the corruption involved with her career due to the sanctioning bodies of her titles and her trainer. I highly recommend that you read the article in its entirety since you are a sponsor of Tissen and she is endorsing your products and wearing/advertising your company logo. In the near future, there will be more articles written by me about Tissen which will state the companies that continue to sponsor her.

Sincerely,

Ron Scarfone

I provided a link to the article in my message. The vast majority of Tissen’s sponsors ignored me and did not reply. I received only one response. I received a reply from WFA Manufaktur (manufactures bathroom fixtures) which is one of the companies that sponsors Tissen.

Dear Mr. Scarfone,

Our CEO Maiki Hundt says Thank you for this nice article and wish you all the best!

Daniela Sauer

Hundt is the CEO of one of Tissen’s major sponsors??? Therefore, Tissen is just a billboard for his business in order to provide publicity for it. That is all she is because she is not a real world champion and she is a mediocre boxer. I believe that Hundt owns the company too. It was surprising to me because I was told by Lutz that Hundt has no money. Saying that Hundt does not have money is like saying that Big Bird does not have yellow feathers. I saw a photo of a Rolex watch on Hundt’s Facebook page. I saw on Tissen’s Facebook page (which I believe is controlled by Hundt) that a new factory was built for WFA Manufaktur. There is another division to the company called WFA Industries which makes the blades and other parts for radio controlled model helicopters. They also seem to be getting blades from Spinblades which is another company that sponsors Tissen. WFA Industries puts their own designs on the blades like $100 bills with Benjamin Franklin’s face. I saw Hundt in a video on Facebook flying a model helicopter which was huge compared to the average toy one. These are not model helicopters that you can buy at Toys “R” Us for 20 dollars or 20 euros. I do not know if they actually make the whole helicopter as well as the parts for it, but the helicopters do have the WFA logo on them. ASO Safety Solutions, Taxofit, Thunder Tiger, Optifuel, Rosi’s Mobildisco, White Security Service, and Sportsdentist are her other sponsors. Paffen Sport is another sponsor and the company makes boxing equipment, so that may be all that they provide and no financial assistance.

Obviously, the companies are aware of my article because I informed them of it or they were told about it by other people. They still continue to sponsor Tissen knowing the truth about her career and the collusion/corruption between Hundt who is her trainer/manager/promoter and Lutz who is the GBU President and WIBF Vice President. I have heard through the grapevine that anyone who is critical of Hundt, he threatens with a lawyer. Lutz also told me this when I interviewed him. Lutz is afraid of being sued by Hundt and his lawyer which is why he allows Hundt to do whatever he wants regarding choosing the opponents, officials, and waiving the required drug test in the GBU/WIBF world title fight. Of course, the other reason is because Lutz wants to collect the sanctioning fees when Tissen defends her GBU and WIBF titles. Obviously, Lutz is allowing Hundt to select the officials so that Tissen will continue to win and remain as world champion and then Lutz can collect more sanctioning fees in the future.

There are two reasons why I believe that the companies still continue to sponsor Tissen. One reason is that Tissen is photogenic and does not have any massive moles on her face like someone whose name rhymes with Bundt. The other reason is that she holds two world featherweight titles, although they have less significance now that the major sanctioning bodies are involved in women’s boxing. Tissen’s fights are not televised, but she and Hundt are in videos for publicity and interviews that are uploaded to Facebook and YouTube. The sponsors would be getting much more exposure if Tissen’s fights were televised. Since Hundt rarely allows videos of Tissen’s fights to be seen by the public, you can only see all of Tissen’s fights in their entirety if you attend them. People in Germany know that Tissen is a counterfeit world champion and not really a world-class boxer. Tissen’s rating on BoxRec.com is fake and inflated due to the biased decisions that she has received in her favor. The choice of opponents is another reason why people are not attending her fights like they have in the past. Tissen has not fought a legitimate contender since Fatuma Zarika on 7-23-2011. That is more than five years ago.

Hundt makes videos periodically in order to address the fans who still care about Tissen and he keeps them updated on what is happening or going to happen in her boxing career. Hundt decided to make a video response regarding my article on Tissen’s Facebook page. Most of Hundt’s approximately four minute response was in German. I do not understand German, so I had someone translate it for me. Hundt said in German that I was contacting Tissen’s sponsors and for her fans not to be concerned about it. He then spoke in English: “Mr. Scarface, fone. What do you mean you can destroy the career of Elina Tissen? We don’t think so you can destroy because all that you write is nice, but everybody knows this exactly and that is the reason that we can say have fun.” I decided to have some more “fun” and write a follow-up to my previous article.

Of course, Tissen is going to have a boxing career in Germany. That is the only place on Earth that she can have it. Hundt was basically saying that it does not matter that everyone in Germany knows what I wrote was the truth. Everyone in Germany knows that Tissen is not a world-class boxer and even GBU President Jurgen Lutz said this to me. Everyone knows that Hundt and Lutz collude in order to maintain Tissen as GBU/WIBF featherweight champion. Everyone knows that Tissen has rarely fought legitimate contenders. Everyone knows that Hundt picked the officials for Tissen’s fight against Busa because the WBF publicly stated this in a WBF Statement which is one reason why they pulled out of sanctioning the event. It was supposed to be a unification fight among the WBF, GBU, and WIBF. Since the WBF pulled out, only the GBU and WIBF approved and sanctioned the fight.

There was another reason though that made the WBF want to pull out of the event which was not stated in the WBF Statement. I emailed the WBF a link to my previous article after it was published. I received a reply from WBF Executive Director Olaf Schroder. Although Schroder is not the WBF President, he is near the top of the WBF hierarchy. Schroder lives in Germany and he is very knowledgeable about what is going on in boxing, especially in Germany. Schroder is familiar about Tissen’s career and her trainer Hundt. Schroder informed me in his reply by email to me and in a conversation we had on the phone that the officials were not of the standard that the WBF expects from officials. This was discovered by the WBF just one day before the fight and the WBF pulled out of sanctioning the Tissen vs. Busa fight because of it. Schroder also revealed that the promoter (Hundt was acting as the promoter) selected the officials and also waived an anti-doping test for the boxers. Hundt was acting as the promoter and not Miriam Bohn who was still the promoter of Tissen at the time.

WIBF President Barbara Buttrick told me that the BDB selected the officials when she was actively involved in Germany. Why was Hundt allowed to select the officials and have the anti-doping test waived? I thought that world title fights were required to have some sort of drug test. What kind of anti-doping test did Hundt want waived? Was it a blood test, a urine test, or both? Was the test supposed to be done before the fight, after the fight, or both? Was the drug test required by the BDB and/or the GBU/WIBF for world title fights? Schroder requested that I email him a list of questions rather than have an interview through conversation. Schroder preferred to answer the questions in writing. Although his English is sufficient and better than Lutz for discussions, Schroder felt that this is a hot topic and therefore he felt that it was best to write his answers to my questions after careful thought and consideration. I emailed Schroder the questions that I wanted him to answer. Schroder emailed me his responses.

Scarfone: You said to me that the WBF has a full list of complaints that the WBF internally had against the GBU/WIBF. Could you provide me what those complaints were either by stating them in an email or in an actual document(s)?

Schroder: When the Unified (WBF, GBU, WIBF) titles were disposed off, the WBF gave a statement on our website. We don’t want to publicly indulge in any more details because we prefer to concentrate on our business and don’t comment on the actions or non-actions of other organizations or private companies. Let me just add that the WBF as a matter of principle would not want a relationship to any organization or company which sees no point in abiding to the (Muhammad) Ali Act and thus register with the ABC (Association of Boxing Commissions). Yes, it means a lot of work to fulfill all the requirements of the Ali Act, but for the WBF this is of paramount importance. If people just want some belt strapped around their waists, fine, there are many around. But we always encourage anyone to investigate with whom they “get in bed” and unfortunately, this is not done often enough.

Scarfone: You stated that the BDB sometimes bends the rules in order to get more shows because they have less shows than their competitor the German Boxing Association (GBA). Through my research, I have found out about a few questionable incidents involving the BDB. With the Tissen vs. Busa fight, this is the information I have based on our conversation and I just wanted you to confirm this. You stated that Lutz said the BDB would be choosing the officials for Tissen vs. Busa. You told Lutz that the officials cannot all be Germans. When you judge a world title fight, you are supposed to have some history on BoxRec. Lutz said that two of the officials used to work for the GBA. You called the GBA and they never heard about these people. One of the officials was a good friend of Hundt. According to you who inquired about the officials to the BDB, the BDB did not appoint anyone as an official for the fight. That was the last straw that made the WBF stop sanctioning the unified titles (WBF, GBU, WIBF) with them (the GBU and WIBF). The BDB stepped aside for Tissen vs. Busa and allowed Lutz to control how the officials were going to be selected. Lutz then allowed Hundt to select the officials. The BDB had no idea who the officials were for this fight, so it seems that they did not appoint them even though it shows on BoxRec that the BDB was the commission that had jurisdiction over this fight. The rules of the BDB stipulate that anti-doping tests be used for world title fights. Just a few days before the fight, they sent the WBF an anti-doping test waiver in order to relinquish the requirement that the test be used for the boxers participating. The WBF was asked to sign this waiver with the agreement that no test of this kind would be conducted for “financial reasons.” The WBF declined to sign that. If the WBF would have signed it, then Tissen and Busa would not have received any anti-doping tests which would have tested their urine.

Schroder: Yes, that is correct.

Scarfone: It is my opinion (and I stated this in my previous article) that Tissen is a fake world champion. Lutz even admitted to me that she is a good European boxer, but not a world-class boxer. Can you share your opinion of Tissen and/or what you think most people’s opinion of her boxing ability is?

Schroder: How I personally rate Ms. Tissen is irrelevant. However, it is speaking for itself when a boxer with 12 successful so-called “world” title fights stretched over almost eight years has only had four opponents with positive records among the dozen. If you take away Busa (3-2) and Kavulani (14-11-2), it basically leaves just two opponents with good records. Everybody can use those facts to form his or her own conclusion. (Tissen also lost to Esther Phiri who had a 7-1-1 record, but this was before she won her first world title. That fight was in Africa and not in Germany. That was the only time that Tissen fought outside of Germany.)

Scarfone: I searched all of Tissen’s fights on BoxRec and the BDB was the commission for the last three Tissen fights. However, the GBA has done several of Tissen’s fights previously. The GBA was the commission for the only two times that Tissen fought legitimate contenders in Germany. Because the judging was so biased in these two fights, I am wondering if you know of any history of bias from judges appointed by the GBA. (It is possible that the GBA did not select the judges for those fights.)

Schroder: The WBF or myself have no experience with any of the judges who worked on those two fights which makes it impossible to answer this question.

Scarfone: I have discovered that Hundt selects Tissen’s opponents and that Lutz agrees to whatever opponent Hundt selects. I find this highly unusual to have this happen repeatedly for a world champion. I thought that the sanctioning body was supposed to decide the challenger for a world title. Do you think that this is very unusual and unethical for Hundt to be selecting all of Tissen’s opponents while she is champion of the GBU and/or WIBF?

Schroder: How can you blame Mr. Hundt for doing something that probably everybody would do – providing he can get away with it? Actually, if the sanctioning body does not order a mandatory, he is free to select a challenger. However, whether the sanctioning body approves that challenger is another matter. With the statistics quoted above, it is completely obvious that the WIBF agreed to whatever opponent was brought forward by Mr. Hundt. The WBF in fact had a huge problem with Gabriella Busa in 2015, but because of Mr. Lutz forcefully begging us to go along with her, our Championship Committee members relented (a.) in order to not endanger the “Unified” cooperation, and (b.) because we were promised a higher standard by Mr. Lutz for the next Tissen defense. (In my previous article, I thought that the WBF did not have a problem with the chosen opponent Busa because they initially agreed to sanction the fight in 2015. Based on Schroder’s answer, the WBF did have a problem with it. The “Unified” title was an agreement between the WBF, GBU, and WIBF to form a “unified” title with these three sanctioning bodies.)

Scarfone: Do you feel that Tissen is on or has been on any performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) based on the fact that the WBF was asked to sign a waiver of the anti-doping test?

Schroder: The only answer I can give to this question is that, based upon a phone conversation with Mr. Hundt on this subject, my honest impression was that the cost of the anti-doping test was his only concern. I have no reason whatsoever to believe Ms. Tissen has ever taken any forbidden substances.

That was the end of my questions to Schroder. The commission that sanctioned each of Tissen’s fights can be looked up on BoxRec.com. The BDB boxing commission is in competition with the GBA. I looked up all the fights of Tissen to see the commissions that were involved for each of Tissen’s fights. She only had one fight outside of Germany and she lost that one. Four of Tissen’s fights were unsanctioned: three of these were against boxers making their pro debuts and I believe the other fight was unsanctioned because the opponent weighed less than what she was supposed to for a featherweight title fight. I know the answer that Schroder gave to my question about the anti-doping test and I know that Hundt tries to save money whenever he can, but I have to investigate for myself. Is Hundt in that much of financial distress that he cannot afford to pay for one mandatory post-fight anti-doping test for two boxers in a world championship? I called the BDB to speak to BDB President Thomas Putz. He was not available, but I did talk to someone else who works there. I initially did not know who I was talking to. This BDB employee is a woman. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Below is a transcript of our conversation.

Scarfone: Can I talk to BDB President Thomas Putz?

Poeske: No, he is not in the office today. He’ll be back in Germany on Saturday, but the office is closed on Saturday.

Scarfone: I guess I’ll call back Monday.

Poeske: Who is speaking?

Scarfone: I’m Ron Scarfone. I’m from America. I write for a boxing website.

Poeske: Okay.

Scarfone: I’m calling about Elina Tissen and her fight against Gabriella Busa last year. The BDB was the commission. I found out from the World Boxing Federation (WBF) that the BDB did not appoint the officials, although the BDB was the commission regulating the fight.

Poeske: Okay, we are the commission for the event. The sanctioning bodies make their own appointments for the officials. We do not appoint the officials for the international (world) title fights.

Scarfone: That’s not what I heard (from WIBF President Barbara Buttrick). It has always been that the BDB would choose the officials.

Poeske: For our (German) national title fights, we do.

Scarfone: Has the BDB ever chosen the officials for a world title fight?

Poeske: We make suggestions maybe if we are asked, but we do not choose the officials.

Scarfone: But that’s contrary to what I heard from WIBF President Barbara Buttrick. The BDB did choose the officials when she used to work in Germany. I’m getting different information from you and her.

Poeske: I cannot do anything for what people say. Who is she? (I just told her.)

Scarfone: She is the President of the Women’s International Boxing Federation, the WIBF, which is one of the belts that Elina Tissen has. She (Buttrick) doesn’t live in Germany, but she used to work in Germany. She lives in America, so she would fly back and forth on a plane.

Poeske: Okay.

Scarfone: There was an anti-doping test that was waived for the Tissen vs. Busa fight. That’s what the WBF told me.

Poeske: Are we talking about the WIBF?

Scarfone: No, the WBF. Different organization, the World Boxing Federation. They were initially involved in the sanctioning of this fight. They pulled out because of GBU President Jurgen Lutz. Do you know him?

Poeske: Yeah, sure.

Scarfone: Well, he promised the WBF that the officials would be selected by the BDB, but that was not true. The WBF was given a waiver to sign so that the anti-doping test would not be given to Tissen. The WBF refused to sign it and that was another reason why they pulled out of the event. Is that usual for the anti-doping test to be waived for a title fight?

Poeske: You can if all parties agree. It depends also on the national federation regulations.

Scarfone: And what are the BDB Regulations (regarding anti-doping tests)?

Poeske: Normally, we do (require anti-doping tests). It depends on the kind of title fight. If it is a national title fight or a minor title fight, there are different regulations.

Scarfone: Well, tell me what the regulation is for a world title fight with the BDB commission. Does the BDB require anti-doping tests for world title fights?

Poeske: If it is recognized as a title fight of our (German) federation (BDB), then yes. If it is not, then we leave the choice to the federations because there are a lot of federations that make world title fights. I don’t know if this (Tissen vs. Busa) was recognized as a world title fight.

Scarfone: It was. It was the GBU (Global Boxing Union) and WIBF (Women’s International Boxing Federation) world title fight. Yes.

Poeske: I need to look it up. I cannot say at this point.

Scarfone: Are you saying that the sanctioning bodies for the world title fights decide? It’s optional whether they want to have a urine test for drugs or not?

Poeske: Well, maybe they do. They say it’s optional or not required and then they leave the decision to the national federations.

Scarfone: The national federations. Like the BDB?

Poeske: The sanctioning bodies have their own regulations. Some such as the WBC (World Boxing Council) generally require the anti-drug test for their title fights. There are others such as the WBO (World Boxing Organization) who leave the decision (regarding whether to do anti-doping tests) to the national federations.

Scarfone: I see. The BDB did not choose the officials for Tissen vs. Busa and you said before that they don’t have to choose the officials. So what do they do then? They are there as the commission.

Poeske: I don’t understand the question. Let’s say there is a world title fight of the WBO. They don’t choose officials from the national federation. We cannot tell them which officials they have to choose.

Scarfone: So you’re saying that when Tissen fights for her world titles, the BDB is there and they’ll choose the officials for the undercard fights that are not for world titles, but for Tissen’s fight, they don’t choose the officials.

Poeske: We generally do not choose the officials for international (world) title fights which are not our (BDB) national titles.

Scarfone: I have to find out about it from the sanctioning bodies because I’m getting conflicting information. So you’re saying the drug test isn’t required?

Poeske: I cannot say this because some federations do require a drug test and others don’t.

Scarfone: Well, they (WBF, GBU, and WIBF) require it obviously because they wanted the WBF to sign a waiver that would relinquish the requirement for that title fight. (WIBF President Barbara Buttrick told me that a post-fight urine test is required for WIBF title fights.) I’m assuming it is a requirement because if it wasn’t a requirement, they wouldn’t have tried to make the WBF sign a waiver. The WBF was told that they (Hundt) did not want to do the drug test because of the cost, because of financial reasons. They were saying that they could not afford the anti-doping test. Do you know what the cost is for that urine test?

Poeske: For one fight, it’s about 850 euros (about 900 U.S. dollars), more or less.

Scarfone: For one boxer or for both boxers?​

Poeske: For two boxers after the fight, urine test, the taking of the samples and the analysis.

Scarfone: What about before the fight? I thought they were supposed to be tested before and after?

Poeske: It is all up to the involved parties. If they agree on a drug test before the fight, they tell the federation or whoever is in charge that they want to do it, but it’s not required.

Scarfone: Both boxers getting tested after the fight costs about 850 euros?

Poeske: Yes. Normally, this is what it costs.

Scarfone: What’s your name?

Poeske: Beate.

Scarfone: What’s your last name? Are you Poeske?

Poeske: Yes.

Scarfone: You’re Beate Poeske. You used to work for Universum (boxing promotions company) or do you still?

Poeske: No. Universum doesn’t exist anymore.

Scarfone: So now you’re working here. Is there any way that you can look up the past fights to see whether the drug test was waived when the BDB was sanctioning a fight that Tissen fought in? I see here (on BoxRec) that there were several fights that the BDB sanctioned in her career. I’m wondering if you could look those up for me.

Poeske: Sure.

Scarfone: Okay. I want to know about all the fights of Tissen that the BDB sanctioned. I know which ones they are.

Poeske: Can you send me an email? It’s easier for us.

Scarfone: That’s true. What is your email address?

Poeske: (Poeske gave me her email address).

Scarfone: All right. I’ll email that to you. You’re saying that the BDB never chooses the officials for a world title fight of Tissen. They have never chosen the officials.

Poeske: Well, (I’m) not sure. Maybe some of our officials are in the title fights because the sanctioning body chooses to use them for the title fights, but we do not command the sanctioning bodies to use these officials (from the BDB).

Scarfone: I see. Okay, I’ll email you that and I’m wondering if your (BDB) President (Thomas Putz) can give me some time as well. I’d like to talk to him sometime on Monday if that’s possible. Is he available on Monday?

Poeske: I think so.

Scarfone: Okay. Well, thank you for talking to me, Ms. Poeske.

Poeske: Okay. You’re welcome.

After the interview, I sent Ms. Poeske an email: For the following fights of Elina Tissen, I want to know whether the anti-doping tests were waived. If they were not waived, I want to know if Tissen tested positive for any performance enhancing drug (PED) or anything else that is not permitted. I also want to know whether the BDB selected the officials for each fight or whether the officials were chosen by an outside source such as GBU President Jurgen Lutz or Tissen’s trainer Maiki Hundt. I listed eight events that the BDB was the commission for when Tissen was on the fight card. I was hoping that Poeske would be able to send me the information that I requested before Putz returned on Monday. The reason was that I found an article about the BDB not informing the European Boxing Union (EBU) that German heavyweight boxer Erkan Teper tested positive for a banned substance after his fight against Newfel Ouatah in June 2014 which was for the vacant EBU heavyweight title. Teper tested positive for a banned substance again when he fought for the vacant EBU heavyweight title against David Price in July 2015. I called Poeske a couple of days later to find out if she made any progress in obtaining the information that I wanted. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Below is a transcript of our conversation.

Scarfone: Hi, is this Beate Poeske?

Poeske: Yes, speaking.

Scarfone: Hi, this is Ron Scarfone again.

Poeske: Hi, how are you doing?

Scarfone: I just want to know that you got my email, right?

Poeske: Yes, I got your email.

Scarfone: And when do you think that will be done by?

Poeske: Oh, um, I’m not sure because we have a public holiday here (in Germany) tomorrow and I’ll be back in the office on Monday, so I guess I should be able to work on this by then.

Scarfone: You mean it won’t be done until next week?

Poeske: I think so, yes, because we have three promotions this coming weekend and we really have a lot of work.

Scarfone: Oh.

Poeske: I’m not even sure if all these fights were under our supervision.

Scarfone: I checked on BoxRec. They are. You said (previously) that the commission (BDB) regulates the event overall, but sometimes for the world title fights, they don’t select the officials. Is that right?

Poeske: Yes.

Scarfone: So basically what I’m saying is on BoxRec, it shows that the BDB was the commission for those fights, but the officials were not necessarily chosen by the BDB.

Poeske: Exactly. For the title fights. For the undercard fights, yes.

Scarfone: But still, because it says (on BoxRec) that the BDB was the commission, would the BDB know about any anti-doping tests that were waived?

Poeske: Probably, yes.

Scarfone: Okay. And would it also be on record what officials of the BDB were used for those title fights of Tissen or not?

Poeske: Yeah, I’m not sure what BoxRec has got in the records.

Scarfone: It (BoxRec) only says the names of the judges and the referee. It doesn’t say whether they are BDB officials or not. That’s the information that I want.

Poeske: Okay, okay. I’ll work on it as soon as possible.

Scarfone: And also, if any anti-doping test was waived and also if there were any positive tests for anything not allowed.

Poeske: Okay, that’s certainly not because she (Tissen) has never been suspended as far as I know.

Scarfone: If a boxer tested positive for something after the fight, would they sometimes still allow the result to stand or would they take away the win (if the boxer won)?

Poeske: If it’s confirmed about the B sample.

Scarfone: The B sample. Are there two samples?

Poeske: Sure.

Scarfone: So they pee twice or something? I don’t understand.

Poeske: Do you know how this works? Anti-doping procedures?

Scarfone: Not exactly. I know that there is a urine test or a blood test.

Poeske: I don’t really get what is your concern in this. Are you working as a journalist?

Scarfone: Yes, I’m a journalist.

Poeske: Okay, but you don’t know the anti-doping rules?

Scarfone: Not exactly. I’m going to do more research on that. I’m still new to this. Can you briefly tell me about sample A and sample B? (I researched later on the BDB website which states that the BDB regulates the doping controls in and out of competition and in particular German championships and national and international events. It does not state specifically that professional boxers have to be tested. The samples of urine shall be filled in two vials. One vial is for the A sample and the other vial is for the B sample. The vials are labeled and sealed. The board of the BDB will notify the boxer if there is an adverse analytical finding of the A sample. The boxer may require an examination of the B sample within ten days of receipt of notification of the adverse analytical finding in the A sample.)

Poeske: You know the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)?

Scarfone: Yes.

Poeske: Well, you can look it up at their website.

Scarfone: Would Mr. Putz have any problem with me trying to get this information?

Poeske: I don’t think so. Why should he?

Scarfone: I read on the Internet that (positive results of) an anti-doping test was not revealed by the BDB in the past.

Poeske: As far as I know, no.

Scarfone: That’s why I really wanted you to get it done before he (Putz) arrives back, but I guess that’s not going to happen. I’d like to talk to him anyway. Thank you for keeping me updated on what’s going on.

Poeske: Sure.

Scarfone: Thanks. Bye.

After doing some research, I found out that Germany is regulated by NADA (anti-doping agency of Germany). NADA stands for the Nationale Anti Doping Agentur. NADA is an affiliate of WADA. I emailed NADA regarding anti-doping test records and Eva Bunthoff who is the head of NADA responded to me: “We are not working together with GBA or BDB as both have not implemented the WADA Code and are conducting tests outside the international anti-doping rules. As well, GBA and BDB are doing the results management outside the international anti-doping rules since they have not implemented the WADA Code. As Germany has a strict data protection law, we are not communicating single tests from athletes. But of course, athletes can communicate their own data if they wish to do so. For all sports in Germany where we do test and are responsible for the results management, the records can be found in our annual report.” Bunthoff stated that the GBA and BDB are not complying with the WADA Code when anti-doping tests are conducted. The BDB has rules regarding sample A and B, but they are not complying with the WADA Code. Therefore, how can we be sure that the tests were conducted properly and that there was no tampering with the samples? The BDB and GBA may not even require that professional boxers be drug tested in world title fights. Poeske who works for the BDB told me to search for the information on how the anti-doping tests are done on WADA’s website, but the BDB does not follow the WADA Code.

I read an article about the German Boxing Association (GBA) which was the commission for a super middleweight fight between Cagri Ermis and Juergen Doberstein. In Berlin, Germany on February 27, 2015, Ermis defeated Doberstein by a close unanimous decision with judges’ scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 115-112. Doberstein was not happy about the “doping tests.” Doberstein’s team checked with NADA who replied that NADA has never conducted any doping tests for any GBA sanctioned event. The boxers were charged 1,000 Euro for each “test,” but the “tests” were really not approved or done by NADA.

I also did research on the A and B samples used in the drug testing for athletes. In an article by the Associated Press titled WADA calls “B” sample testing unfair, the director of WADA suggested that the collection and testing of the backup B sample should not be done in order to save money and time in the fight against performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The article stated that an athlete’s blood or urine sample is divided into two samples which are A and B. These samples are sealed in separate bottles. If the A sample is tested as positive, the athlete can request that the B sample be analyzed. WADA director general David Howman said that the number of times that the B or second sample contradicts the A or first sample is “almost zero.” When that happens, Howman said it is either because the B sample has disintegrated over time or due to manipulation by the athlete. If sample A is found to be positive, the athlete is notified before sample B is tested. If sample B is also found to be positive, the organizations involved are notified whose responsibility it is to decide what bans or penalties will be imposed. Basically, the B sample is used to confirm that an anti-doping rule violation occurred. However, Howman stated that the test results of the A and B samples rarely contradict each other unless there is degradation of the B sample or foul play is involved. Therefore, a boxer could test positive in sample A, tamper with sample B in some way to cause sample B to test negative, and then the boxer would not have any consequences from the positive test in sample A. However, the test results of sample A and sample B if it was tested should be on record. That is what I wanted to find out about Tissen. However, these anti-doping tests for fights in which the BDB was the commission are not being done according to the code of WADA or NADA, so how can boxers be sure that the tests are reliable and accurate?

I emailed Ms. Poeske again to inform her that I wanted the test results of both the A and B samples of Tissen in the fights that the BDB was the commission for. I decided that I also wanted the anti-doping test results of Tissen’s opponents to see if they are being tested even if the test is waived for Tissen. If Hundt is waiving the drug test for Tissen while also the opponent still has to be tested, then it would prove that Hundt is not waiving the drug test for Tissen to save money. This would show inconsistency and favoritism towards Tissen if her opponent was tested whereas Tissen was not tested. I also had another request. I wanted the test results of the post-fight urine sample for another fight that did not involve Tissen.

An article written by Trish Hill (also known as Trisha Hill) of the United States was posted by WBAN.com in May 2004. Hill stated that she participated in the WIBF featherweight title fight against Silke Weickenmeier of Germany in February 2004. According to BoxRec, the fight was originally a TKO victory for Hill in the seventh round. Hill was stripped of the title later because of the anti-doping test results and the title was given to Weickenmeier. Hill stated that both before and after the fight, Hill had participated in drug testing. Results of her post-fight urine sample showed her Norandrosterone which is a naturally occurring substance in the body of females had exceeded the limit of 5ng/ml. There was no mention of the pre-fight urine sample, so I assume that it did not test positive for any banned substance. Did someone tamper with Hill’s post-fight urine sample which caused it to test positive?

Hill had a list of complaints against the BDB which included whether proper testing protocol was followed, whether security measures were taken to protect the urine samples, and also Hill stated that she was not given the test results of her opponent. Hill appealed the decision to strip her of the title to the WIBF headquarters in Florida. Therefore, Hill was appealing the decision to WIBF President Barbara Buttrick. Apparently, the appeal did not help her get back the title. Hill hoped that there would eventually be one consistent set of rules and procedures regarding anti-doping tests. More than a decade later, it has not happened in professional boxing. However, amateur boxing in the Olympics does have a set of rules and procedures that are followed. Hill was tested before and after this WIBF featherweight title fight, but Tissen was not tested at all in her title fight for the same WIBF belt supposedly due to financial reasons.

An article from August 2014 titled Drug Testing in Boxing – Is there any hope? asked that question. The article states that Olympic Style Testing (OST) is governed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in the United States. OST is conducted by collecting both blood and urine samples in, during, or out of competition without notice at any time of the year. OST conducts random drug testing which boxing commissions do not do. There are no standardized rules and procedures for drug testing in professional boxing. The article states that testing, if conducted, is usually done by getting urine samples which is a method considered to be ineffective by most experts and easy to manipulate. Hundt must really want to save money to not want to pay for one post-fight urine test. Perhaps Hundt was concerned about what would be revealed from an anti-doping test. Hill was tested before and after her fight against Weickenmeier, but Hundt would not let Tissen be tested at all for her fight against Busa.

In an article titled USADA’s Travis Tygart: Current drug testing done by state boxing commissions ‘a joke,’ USADA Chief Executive Travis Tygart was interviewed. Tygart oversees drug testing for U.S. based Olympic athletes. Tygart is an advocate of both blood and urine testing. Tygart said that there are certain things that cannot be found in blood that you can only find in urine such as steroids and Erythropoietin (EPO). EPO is banned by sports organizations internationally. EPO can be used to boost strength, speed, and endurance, especially when competing in contests that either do not have doping tests or if the doping tests are waived. Since boxing organizations consider themselves to be private entities that exist outside the jurisdiction of WADA, it is difficult to have uniform and widespread drug testing in professional boxing.

I attempted to contact the GBA which is a competitor of the BDB. I went on the GBA’s website and saw the GBA championship belts and then I saw the phone number and email addresses of their staff. I saw that the GBA President is Jorg Milcke. I called the GBA a few times and no one answered. It was just a recording in German. I emailed Milcke and received no response. I was able to get another phone number for the GBA and called that number. I talked to Jens Kluge whose job title is Board Administration. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Below is a transcript of our conversation.

Scarfone: Hi. My name is Ron Scarfone. I’m from the United States. Do you work for the German Boxing Association?

Kluge: Yes.

Scarfone: Is the President (Jorg Milcke) available today or is he off work today? I called and no one answers.

Kluge: Can I help you?

Scarfone: Yeah. I want to ask you some things about the GBA. Do they require drug tests for the world title fights?

Kluge: We work with the IBF and IBO for world title fights.

Scarfone: You also work with the GBU and WIBF though, right?

Kluge: Yes.​

Scarfone: Do you require drug tests for their title fights, for the GBU and WIBF?

Kluge: Yes.

Scarfone: You do.

Kluge: Of course, yes. (The drug tests that the GBA uses are not regulated by NADA or WADA.)

Scarfone: Do you have records of the drug tests for past fights? Do you have the (records of) previous drug tests that you had when you sanctioned fights for Elina Tissen? Do you have the drug test results for her title fights when the GBA was sanctioning them?

Kluge: You must ask the President. You must ask Jorg Milcke. I don’t think we worked with Elina Tissen. I don’t think so.

Scarfone: Yes. It’s on BoxRec that several of her fights you’ve done in the past.

Kluge: I don’t think for her next fights. I don’t think so.

Scarfone: No, not for her next fights, but for previous fights, you have done them. I have seen them on BoxRec.

Kluge: Okay, yes.

Scarfone: Do you know why they (Hundt) stopped using the GBA and they use the BDB instead? Do you know why?

Kluge: Why?

Scarfone: No, I want to know why. Do you know why?

Kluge: (laughs)

Scarfone: You don’t know?

Kluge: I can send you the number for the President, for Mr. Milcke, and you can talk with him.

Scarfone: I have the number here. Let me make sure this is correct. (I told Kluge the number and he verified that it was correct.) He does not answer (his phone when I call). What’s his email address?

Kluge emailed me Milcke’s email address and then I emailed Milcke. Milcke replied to me in German and wrote “Thank you, speak German? (translated from German).” I assume that he does not speak English because he responded to me in German. Olaf Schroder of the WBF later informed me that Milcke speaks no English at all. I emailed Kluge again to reiterate that I wanted those anti-doping test results and I wanted to know if the tests were ever waived for Elina Tissen’s fights when the GBA was the commission. I also stated that I know that the GBA does not follow WADA Code or NADA Code when the anti-doping tests are conducted. Who is doing the tests? Is there an independent agency doing them or does the GBA get Dr. Dolittle to do them? Kluge replied to me by stating that Tissen is a BDB licensed boxer now. Kluge also stated that the GBA does not provide reports to anyone outside of their commission and that they must abide by German data protection rules. This is the same thing that NADA stated to me about the data protection laws in Germany. NADA stated to me that they do not communicate single tests from athletes.

I did not hear from Poeske for a few days, so I emailed her about the status of the information that I requested. Poeske replied that the BDB is a small federation and she is the only employee. I assume that she means other than President Thomas Putz. Poeske sent me another email later. Poeske stated that for drug tests conducted for boxing events under supervision of the BDB, the results of the tests have been reported to NADA. She also stated that the tests are being carried out by a NADA authorized agency and analyzed by NADA authorized laboratories. Poeske stated that if there is a positive result, both NADA and the federation (sanctioning body) are being reported to. Poeske stated that the BDB is not supposed to report on any drug tests and their results to any third parties which I assume is due to the data protection laws in Germany. For any questions regarding this, Poeske recommended that I refer to the involved sanctioning bodies. Regarding my question about the officials used in international title fights in which the BDB is the commission, Poeske stated that the BDB does not choose or decide on such officials. She stated that national (BDB) officials are used in world title fights sometimes, but that this decision lies within the discretion of the sanctioning bodies. I decided to call Poeske about her email to me and to ask for another request. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Below is a transcript of our conversation.

Scarfone: Hello Beate. This is Ron.

Poeske: Yes, hello. Good morning.

Scarfone: Hi. So I got your email. I’m assuming that I’m not going to receive any information regarding the drug tests. I know if they test sample B, sample B could sometimes show nothing and then they (the boxer) would not be in trouble for the sample A that tested positive.

Poeske: Sample B is only analyzed if there is a positive sample A.

Scarfone: I know.

Poeske: If the boxer requires the sample B to be analyzed which means that he (or she) does not accept the result of the first sample A result, this is the boxer’s decision. If he (or she) does not require the B sample to be analyzed, then he (or she) automatically accepts the result of sample A.

Scarfone: I understand. I read that. Now you told me in the email that NADA is regulating these tests, but NADA told me that they do not regulate any tests for the BDB or the GBA.

Poeske: It’s different for all federations. They (NADA) do not carry out the tests, but they are reported on the tests. The laboratories are authorized by them (NADA).

Scarfone: No, that’s not true. They (NADA) told me that the BDB does not follow WADA Code and NADA is an affiliate of WADA.

Poeske: For example, the WBO, the WBA, et cetera, they have accepted the WADA Code. So they (the tests) are reported directly by the lab. There is a system called ADAMS. It is an online system and all the federations which submit to the WADA Code have access to this online system and they can log in and see the results of their testing.

Scarfone: But that’s not possible for the tests that are asked for by the BDB because the BDB doesn’t follow WADA Code.

Poeske: But that’s not absolutely necessary. We (BDB) do have our own doping regulations like other federations have too. Once we extract the agencies, they are only authorized to furnish the samples to WADA authorized laboratories and once they do the testing, they automatically report to WADA or NADA and to the federations that are doing the result management.

Scarfone: So you’re saying that the tests that are authorized by the BDB to be done, they (the samples) are sent to WADA approved laboratories?

Poeske: Yes. Otherwise, we have no other possibility. There are only two (WADA approved laboratories) left here in Germany who are able to do this analysis.

Scarfone: NADA told me that you (BDB) do not follow WADA Code. How can they (NADA) say that when you’re sending the samples to WADA approved laboratories?

Poeske: That means that we (BDB) have our own regulations. For example, they (WADA) provide a suspension of maybe two years or so (if a test is a positive result). Some federations have their own regulations concerning the anti-drug test, a difference maybe in the length of the suspensions, et cetera.

Scarfone: Okay. It doesn’t really matter to me about the length of the suspension. I don’t understand. If you (BDB) send it (the samples) to WADA approved laboratories, why don’t you (BDB) just follow WADA Code?

Poeske: There are many reasons for that. For example, it’s also concerning training, testing, et cetera which has to be paid (for) and this is one of the problems because we (BDB) are a small federation. This is also a financial question. For our boxers, promoters, et cetera, they would have to submit too. It’s not only the (BDB) federation. This is one of the reasons.

Scarfone: Do you keep the records on file?

Poeske: For some time, yes, sure. We have to.

Scarfone: Okay.

Poeske: The test you are referring to from 2004 (Hill vs. Weickenmeier), we do not have on file anymore because it is more than 10 years (ago).

Scarfone: Okay. I guess you can’t tell me the results, right? You’re not allowed to do that because of data protection laws in Germany. Is that right?

Poeske: Sure. This is why I told you we are not supposed to report to any third party.

Scarfone: Do you know for the United States athletes, is it the same laws as here (in Germany)? Is there that strict of data protection laws regarding the drug tests?

Poeske: I’m not sure because there are so many different federations. Every state or almost every state has different laws, so maybe it’s different. I don’t know. (I called and left a message for the United States Anti-Doping Agency and I sent a message to the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on its website. I received no response from either of them as to whether there are similar data privacy laws for United States athletes).

Scarfone: I’m not going to be able to get the (anti-doping test) results, but can you tell me whether a test was waived? I know for a fact that it was waived (for Tissen) in the Busa fight (because the WBF informed me of this). Do you know if it was waived for her opponent (Busa) and do you know if it was waived for any other time, any other fight of Tissen in which the BDB was the commission?

Poeske: I have to look this up.

Scarfone: I want to know for any fight (of Tissen) that you have on record if the drug test was waived.

Poeske: I can try to find out. I have to check with the sanctioning bodies if we’re supposed to.

Scarfone: What do you mean? You’ve got to check with Jurgen Lutz then? Barbara Buttrick is not really involved. It’s basically the GBU with the WIBF and (WIBF Vice President/GBU President) Jurgen Lutz is the one who is running that right now (in Europe). I would assume you’re going to have to call him.

Poeske: I have to check first. Yeah.

Scarfone: I’m not asking for the records. I’m just asking if the test was waived. That’s all I’m asking. That’s not something that’s private information, I don’t think.

Poeske: It depends on the kind of championship also. If it was a world championship or whatever it was, I cannot say.

Scarfone: They are world, world, as in…the whole world and she (Tissen) is the champion supposedly of the featherweight division. She’s the world champion of the GBU and WIBF. I know the test was waived at least once (for Tissen) in the Busa fight (in 2015). I want to know which fights it was waived for, if any others. Now with the officials, you were saying that the BDB does not pick the officials at all in the world championship fights, right?

Poeske: Yes.

Scarfone: Okay. I was told differently. I was told by Jurgen Lutz (and Barbara Buttrick) that the BDB picks the officials.

Poeske: You were talking about if they use national (BDB) officials. Yes, they do. All federations do, but we do not command the sanctioning bodies to use our own officials. For example, in the UK (United Kingdom), you have international championship fights with only British officials. But we do not do this here in Germany. It’s common procedure. Generally, we do not tell the international federations to use our officials. We can suggest. Sometimes, federations have certain officials which are sanctioned by them in countries and they might use them. Say if it’s a continental fight and there are two German boxers involved, then they may use local officials, at least part of them, two maybe. We can only say we have this and this and this and you may choose it or you may leave it.

Scarfone: I understand that typically the sanctioning bodies want their own officials (for world title fights). I understand that. I know that Maiki Hundt, the trainer of Tissen, picked all German officials which he was not supposed to do. Is that against the rules? You’re not supposed to pick all German officials when the world championship is in Germany?

Poeske: If it’s in Germany and both fighters are German or if the WIBF or whatever federation it may be, if they say it’s okay, then it’s up to their discretion. We do not have to meddle with that. If they (the boxers) are fighting for a certain title, then they automatically accept their rules. They (the boxers) have to sign at the rules meeting or wherever that they accept the rules.

Scarfone: So the rule about not picking all German officials, then that is not a BDB rule. That must be a GBU/WIBF rule. Is that correct?

Poeske: Yeah. If both parties or whoever agreed on that, then maybe. I don’t know.

Scarfone: I guess maybe they agreed on that beforehand and then Hundt violated the rule (agreed on) by picking all German officials.

Poeske: I wasn’t present. I don’t know. They had a rules meeting. Everybody was informed I guess who the officials would be and if there was no protest or whatever, then they agreed on that.

Scarfone: Yeah. Of course they are going to agree. They are saying we don’t want all German officials because one girl is Hungarian and the other girl is German. I can understand why they would say we don’t want all German officials. But then, Hundt picked all German officials when he wasn’t supposed to do that. That’s my point.

Poeske: I don’t know that.

Scarfone: Well, I do know that. The WBF told me and they put it in a public statement. Also, I want to know who is picking the officials. You’re delegating the decision of picking the officials to the sanctioning bodies for world championships. Am I right?

Poeske: We don’t delegate. It’s not our business.

Scarfone: It’s not your business.

Poeske: Yeah.

Scarfone: Okay.

Poeske: They tell us who will be there and that’s it.

Scarfone: So that means that the GBU/WIBF is in charge of picking the officials. Am I right?

Poeske: Sure.

Scarfone: Okay. Do you know if Jurgen Lutz delegates that decision to Maiki Hundt to pick the officials in Tissen’s fights? Do you know that at all?

Poeske: No. I don’t know.

Scarfone: Are there any records that verify whether Lutz delegated that decision to somebody else?

Poeske: No. We don’t get this kind of information. We are not the ones to be informed about this.

Scarfone: I see.

Poeske: They have their officials which have a license from their federation. I don’t know how they choose them.

Scarfone: So the officials could just be licensed with the GBU/WIBF. They don’t have to be licensed with the BDB in order to be a referee or judge.

Poeske: They can choose their officials. Yeah.

Scarfone: They can choose whoever they want basically. They don’t have to have even worked in boxing before. They can just choose anybody off the street.

Poeske:…Actually, yes they could.

Scarfone: Yeah. And they have done that, I think. (In the WBF Statement, it stated that Lutz admitted that he had allowed the management of Tissen to pick all of the officials for Tissen’s fight against Busa last year and that two of those officials had no traceable connection to professional boxing. Furthermore, these officials were all from Germany.)

Poeske: All federations do this. If they have made their decision and say we choose this official because of these and these reasons, (then) yeah. If you look around, there are a lot of officials who do not have a local license.

Scarfone: Right. I see. Okay. By the way, the GBA told me the same thing. They are not going to release any records due to the German data protection laws. You basically said the same thing they did.

Poeske: Yeah. That’s the rule. Apart from bad food. (laughs)

Scarfone: I know the food in Germany is not very good. I understand that.

Poeske: It depends on where you come from. If you’re German, then you like it. If you’re American, then you don’t like it.

Scarfone: Well, you’re German and I think you don’t like it. You’re German, right?

Poeske: I am. Yes.

Scarfone: Do you like the German food?

Poeske: Of course I do. (laughs)

Scarfone: Oh, you do.

Poeske: Otherwise, I would starve.

Scarfone: (laughs) But you were saying that the German food is bad. (laughs)

Poeske: Well, I think every nation says this of other nations. I think it’s normal. (She said this about food in Germany which is her own nation.)

Scarfone: Universum gave food vouchers and the food was really not that great.

Poeske: I think Universum was famous for being very generous with everybody. Even though it has been closed for quite some years, people still say to me “Well, I remember the good old days,” so I think it was okay. (I remember the good old days too. Boxers rarely won against their opponents who were promoted by Universum even though they sometimes deserved to win.)

Scarfone: When do you think you can get me the information regarding the (anti-doping) tests possibly waived?

Poeske: It depends on when the fights took place.

Scarfone: Can you just tell me over the phone whether a drug test was waived? Just verbal. I don’t need it written.

Poeske: But I don’t have it here in my office. I have to go to the archives.

Scarfone: All right. I call and sometimes you don’t answer. When do you think I can call you?

Poeske: Monday is a holiday here in Germany.

Scarfone: Oh God. Not another holiday.

Poeske: I should be in the office from Tuesday to Friday.

Scarfone: How many holidays are there in Germany? You just had a holiday like a week ago.

Poeske: We work a lot, so we have a lot of holidays.

Scarfone: (laughs) You have a holiday every week? (laughs)

Poeske: Yeah. (There are four German national holidays in just the month of May: May Day, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, and Corpus Christi.)

Scarfone: I wish I lived in Germany (I’m kidding. What food would I eat?) We have holidays here in America, but not that often.

Poeske: Yeah. Well, maybe you should work faster. Then, you (would) have more holidays.

Scarfone: I can’t control the holidays. It’s the (U.S.) government that controls the holidays.

Poeske: Yeah, it was a joke.

Scarfone: Yeah, I know. (German humor I guess.) Anyway. All right. If you want to let me know when you get it done, maybe you can email me to notify me that you got it done or should I just call you on Tuesday?

Poeske: Yeah, you can try and call. Otherwise, I am going to reply by email.

Scarfone: Okay, about the waived drug tests. That’s basically it, those things.

Poeske: Okay.

Scarfone: Thank you very much for your time, Beate.

Poeske: Okay. You’re welcome.

News about athletes testing positive for banned substances is becoming more prevalent as the frequency in testing increases. As the name of VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) suggests, athletes voluntarily agree to be tested by VADA. VADA does not force any athlete to be tested by its organization. VADA tests athletes in boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA). VADA states that few athletic commissions perform testing of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). VADA further states that testing is not usually comprehensive and is not a deterrent. VADA states that sports regulators do not have the manpower, time, and money to thoroughly carry out the task. VADA provides an opportunity for athletes to demonstrate that they are committed to a clean sport. The risks involved when athletes take PEDs who participate in combative sports are more than for other sports simply because it is fighting and is dangerous even without the use of PEDs. An athlete who uses PEDs can have the capacity to hurt his or her opponent even more. However, athletes probably will not be deterred from taking PEDs even if they face suspensions because an athlete’s earning potential is more if PEDs enable the athlete to win. To some athletes, the rewards outweigh the risks to their health and/or the threat of being suspended. On January 1 of this year, WADA added more substances to its banned list such as meldonium. A spokesman for WADA said the revised statute of limitations in the WADA Code allows WADA to pursue anti-doping violations for a period of 10 years from when any violation had occurred.

I decided to send a message to VADA on its website. This message is edited for brevity and clarity: I am a boxing writer and I am currently investigating female boxer Elina Tissen. A post-fight anti-doping test which was required by the sanctioning bodies involved in her world title fight was waived because of “financial reasons.” The trainer/manager of Tissen was apparently acting as the promoter and was allowed to waive this requirement even though it was supposed to be required. Because of Germany’s strict data protection laws, reporters and journalists are not allowed to see the results of the anti-doping tests. The German Boxing Association (GBA) refuses to provide any information to me and they refer to the data protection laws in Germany as the reason. The Bund Deutscher Berufsboxer (BDB) which is the other major boxing commission in Germany also says the same thing. Now, I am only trying to obtain the information as to when the anti-doping tests were waived for Tissen in fights in which the BDB was the commission. Can you tell me if the United States has similar laws regarding the confidentiality of anti-doping test results for athletes? The BDB and GBA do not adhere to WADA code, although the BDB told me that they send samples A and B to WADA approved laboratories. I read a recent article which stated that anti-doping agencies are going to examine the past 10 years of samples. I am wondering that if the samples of Tissen were sent to WADA approved laboratories, would these samples be sent to WADA and stored which would allow additional testing of the samples to be done in the future? The article stated that anti-doping agencies are going to reexamine urine samples collected since 2006 to see if athletes were using any PEDs that were added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned substance list. Thank you for any information that you can provide to my questions.

I provided my name and email address so that VADA could reply to me. I received no reply from VADA.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) stated on its website that usage of PEDs has increased by elite athletes due to three factors: testing for drugs has increased, laboratory testing has improved, and most of the tests for drugs are conducted only on athletes who have reached the finals in a sport or athletes competing in world championships. WBA Medical Advisory Committee chairman Dr. Calvin Inalsingh stated that there is competition between the manufacturers of the drugs and the laboratories that test for the drugs. Dr. Inalsingh recommends that random drug testing be conducted on all athletes because it would be a deterrent to drug use. He also stated that it is folly to test for drugs only for the international sporting events because thousands of athletes who did not qualify for the finals/world championships may have tried to qualify by using drugs.

I wanted to know more about the GBU and if it does have anti-doping test requirements for its title fights. I called WIBF President Barbara Buttrick and she told me that a post-fight urine test is required for WIBF title fights. Tissen holds both the GBU and WIBF featherweight titles. I was able to obtain the contact information (phone number and email address) of a friend of GBU President Jurgen Lutz. His name is Rainer Gottwald. Gottwald has worked as a judge for the GBU, WIBF, and WBF and he is also the manager of current GBU/WIBF super bantamweight champion Caroline Schroder (no relation to Olaf Schroder of the WBF). Before I called Gottwald, I wanted to do some research on him. I found an interesting article on the German news website Die Glocke titled Tissen: ‘Schroder shirks fight’ (translated from German). Shirk means to avoid. Tissen was saying that Schroder was avoiding a fight with her. Was it really true? I translated the entire article in Google Translate. “‘He does not even know the rules of the associations…,’ says Maiki Hundt annoyed. ‘He is unsportsmanlike and disrespectful,’ rants Rainer Gottwald. Both are boxing managers and currently archenemies…‘I have in writing from…(GBU President and WIBF Vice President) Jurgen Lutz…that Elina anytime can box for both titles,’ clarifies Hundt. ‘No matter what weight class,…Schroder has no chance…against Elina,’ says Hundt” (translated from German). I still did not understand what the argument was about, so I called Gottwald to ask him about Hundt. Were they really archenemies as the article stated? What did Hundt mean by saying that Tissen can box for both titles? Is he referring to the GBU and WIBF featherweight titles or the GBU/WIBF titles of the super bantamweight and featherweight divisions? This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Below is a transcript of our conversation.

Scarfone: Hello, Mr. Gottwald?

Gottwald: Hi.

Scarfone: Hi, I’m Ron Scarfone.

Gottwald: Hi, nice to meet you.

Scarfone: Nice to meet you too. Did you read my (previous) article? Did you know about the article that I wrote for East Side Boxing?

Gottwald: About one of my fighters?

Scarfone: No. About Elina Tissen and Maiki Hundt.

Gottwald: Oh my god, Maiki Hundt.

Scarfone: Did you read it?

Gottwald: No, I know nothing about it.

Scarfone: I’m writing a follow-up article and I want to interview you for it. Is that okay?

Gottwald: I don’t know this man (Hundt) personally, so I cannot give any statement about him.

Scarfone: I know that you have a little bit of a rivalry between you and him because of your boxer (Caroline) Schroder.

Gottwald: No. That has nothing to do with that. When it comes to the point that there’s a fight (scheduled), there’s all this blah blah. What he doesn’t understand is that his fighter (Tissen) is a featherweight and our fighter (Schroder) is a super bantamweight. What he should know is that no fighter can be a world champion in two weight classes.

Scarfone: What you’re saying is that he wanted Tissen to not only hold the (GBU/WIBF) featherweight titles, but hold the (GBU/WIBF) super bantamweight titles at the same time?

Gottwald: Both. Yeah.

Scarfone: I see. And then your fighter (Schroder) won the vacant (GBU/WIBF) super bantamweight titles, so they (Tissen and Schroder) were supposed to fight (against each other), but he (Hundt) wouldn’t let them because he wanted both titles (from both weight classes).

Gottwald: Yes. There were other things. I don’t want to hear his (Hundt) name in my life anymore. I don’t want to have any conflict at all. I just want peace. I am very peaceful actually.

Scarfone: So you work as a judge?

Gottwald: When Jurgen (Lutz) asks me, I go to help him. My main thing is sports management. I have no time to be a part of the GBU.

Scarfone: But you’ve been a judge for the GBU title fights, haven’t you?

Gottwald: Yes. When I have time and somebody needs me. Most of the time, I have no time.

Scarfone: Do you know anything about the drug testing involved in the GBU title fights? Is it required for them to give drug tests?

Gottwald: Actually, yes. You know that the WIBF was the first and oldest female worldwide sanctioning body under Barbara Buttrick. The GBU followed. Ten years ago, there was money. Regina Halmich was there and the German TV (network) said this is a star and people were looking at her. Then, the WBO, WBA, WBC, and IBF decided to (do women’s boxing). (Former WBC President) Jose Sulaiman said never women’s fighting in WBC. Finally, they saw there is money to make. They copied the WIBF rules and then they make female fighting which means that immediately, many female titles (from GBU and WIBF) were worth nothing anymore because you (now) had 8 or 9 female world champions. (Gottwald was saying that the involvement of the major sanctioning bodies in women’s boxing diluted the value of the titles from women’s boxing sanctioning bodies.) This is a shame. A man (Lutz) who did so much for female boxing in his life and to see him suffer like this, it’s very sad.

Scarfone: He (Lutz) admitted to me that he lets Hundt pick the opponents of Tissen. He’s struggling. He’s basically trying to do anything he can to keep these shows going.

Gottwald: It is not easy for him.

Scarfone: Is he putting in his own money to keep it going?

Gottwald: All the time for years. The big money makers (promoters) are Sauerland and SES. We have two big promoters that are making money with boxing. The rest are only doing it because they love boxing like Jurgen (Lutz), like the old guys. They hope that they will get the recognition they deserve.

Scarfone: I have to admit though that Lutz does allow Hundt to control who Tissen fights. Do you know about the picking of officials? Does the BDB pick the officials for the world title fights?

Gottwald: Yes, most of the time it is BDB officials.

Scarfone: Okay. But the BDB said to me that they do not require that they are the officials for these world title fights.

Gottwald: All the officials I know, 90% are BDB members.

Scarfone: It was found last year (in the WBF Statement) that Lutz did not let the BDB pick the officials. I assume that Maiki Hundt picks the officials.

Gottwald: I have no idea.

Scarfone: But the BDB usually has its judges in the world title fights (when the BDB is the commission for the event), but it is not required that they are used.

Gottwald: But usually, it is like this.

Scarfone: So the judges and referees are either working for the BDB or the sanctioning bodies.

Gottwald: Yeah.

Scarfone: I was told though by the WBF that Hundt picked one of his friends to be an official for one of Tissen’s fights, so that’s not allowed.

Gottwald: This thing, I don’t know about. I just want to have peace. I never met him (Hundt) in person. I want to live in peace. Maybe I made mistakes in my life, but I was never a bad person. I’m just a normal person. I’m not rich.

Scarfone: Buttrick was telling me with the (minor) sanctioning bodies struggling like they are, a lot of times they have to do what the promoter wants.

Gottwald: Yeah. For Barbara (Buttrick), there were also better times with Klaus-Peter Kohl. (Kohl was the Universum promoter who had fights televised on ZDF channel before they lost their contract. Olaf Schroder of the WBF told me that Universum often had bad matchups with boxing that was not world-class. This led ZDF to stop doing business with Universum.) That was good money.

I thanked Gottwald for his time and our conversation ended. Lutz said to me in my interview with him that “when the WBC, WBA, IBF come in, the bull**** comes.” I think he really meant that when the major sanctioning bodies got involved in women’s boxing, the competition comes. The WIBF was the first sanctioning body for women’s boxing that is still in existence and was founded by WIBF President Barbara Buttrick. She became business partners with Lutz and they decided to form another sanctioning body called the GBU. Lutz was named the GBU President while Buttrick was the GBU Vice President. Lutz told me about the amount of sanctioning bodies now involved in women’s boxing. “I am not happy about this bull**** about women’s boxing. I don’t like this. There is too much in the market.”

I understand about the competition that Lutz faces and his frustration with losing business due to the major sanctioning bodies getting involved in women’s boxing. He was making money with Regina Halmich before she retired. Lutz was still making money when Universum was the promoter for WIBF title fights that were televised by the German TV channel ZDF. The inaugural WBC female featherweight title was formed in 2005. The WBC began unifying their featherweight title with the WIBF featherweight title in 2008. In 2012, the WBC featherweight title was vacant. The WBC unified their featherweight title again with a title from a different women’s boxing sanctioning body. This time, it was the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) featherweight title. In the WBC featherweight title defense which also occurred in 2012, only the WBC featherweight title was at stake. Once the WBC got more established in women’s boxing, they did not need to join forces with any women’s boxing sanctioning body.

I know that it is more difficult for the minor sanctioning bodies to make money in women’s boxing because of the increase in competition. The sanctioning bodies solely for women’s boxing were necessary in the past because the major sanctioning bodies were unwilling to get involved in women’s boxing. Now, that is no longer the case. In fact, all four major sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF) sanction world title fights for women’s boxing. The major sanctioning bodies have taken most of the top talent. As a result, the women’s boxing sanctioning bodies such as the WIBF are far removed from their earlier status. Because the WBC is based in Mexico, it has an advantage over the other sanctioning bodies because Mexico has become a hotbed for women’s boxing. Most female boxers would rather fight in Mexico than anywhere else in the world because they can earn much more money and fight better opponents. Women’s boxing in Mexico is being televised and the female fights are sometimes in large arenas in Mexico. There is only so much money to go around and everyone wants a slice of the pie. The reality is that the WBC has a very large slice of pie in women’s boxing because it is based in Mexico where women’s boxing is popular and televised.

I decided to send another email to Jens Kluge of the GBA regarding the anti-doping tests to see if the GBA would at least provide me with information as to whether the tests were waived for Tissen in world title fights that the GBA was the commission of. I know that there are data protection laws in Germany, but I believe that whether a test was waived should not be private information. Beate Poeske of the BDB is gathering this information for me and I wanted the GBA to do the same. The GBA later informed me that they have no positive doping tests on Tissen. Oh, thanks for the information. I am completely satisfied now. (Not really.) That could mean anything. Did she have any tests? Were they ever waived in the fights in which the GBA was the commission? The GBA would not provide me any further information.

Poeske of the BDB told me that she had to ask Lutz permission just for her to be able to tell me whether an anti-doping test was waived. Not the test results itself, not whether Tissen tested positive or not, but whether Tissen was tested at all. I decided that I had to call Lutz who would know if Hundt picked the officials and waived anti-doping tests, but I knew that getting this information out of Lutz was not going to be easy. I recall from my previous interview with him that he changes the subject or says he does not remember if he wants to avoid answering a question. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Below is a transcript of our conversation.

Lutz: Yes, hello?

Scarfone: Hi, Jurgen. It’s Ron. The BDB told me that they don’t pick the officials, so I am wondering, does Hundt pick the officials? Who is picking the officials in Tissen’s fights? Who is picking the judges and the referees in Tissen’s fights? It’s not the BDB. The BDB said they don’t pick the officials (for world title fights).

Lutz: We have only BDB officials in our fights. Only BDB, we work.

Scarfone: But they told me they don’t pick the officials. In Tissen’s fight with Busa (last year), the BDB did not pick the officials. Hundt picked the officials. Do you pick the officials or does Hundt pick the officials? The BDB said they don’t pick the officials, so who does?

Lutz: Mmm hmm.

Scarfone: Who picks the officials? Who selects them?

Lutz: When the fight is in Germany.

Scarfone: I’m talking about for Tissen’s previous fights. In your fights that you sanction, who decides who the officials are going to be? Is it you? You’re the sanctioning body. You’re supposed to make that decision. Do you delegate that decision to somebody else like Hundt?

Lutz: ……Oh oh. I don’t know exactly what you mean.

Scarfone: Do you let Hundt pick the officials?

Lutz: ……Oh, sure.

Scarfone: You let Hundt pick the officials, right?

Lutz: …Yeah.

Scarfone: Okay. One more thing because I know that he (Hundt) waived the drug test for Tissen in one of her fights. Does Tissen always get the test waived, like she doesn’t take the urine test, the anti-doping test?

Lutz: We make the doping test.

Scarfone: Well, why was it waived?

Lutz: We have the (anti-doping test) company in Cologne (city in Germany).

Scarfone: Does Tissen ever take a drug test or is it always waived? I know it was waived for one of her fights.

Lutz: There is not a lot of money for this. (I know. Poeske says it costs 850 euros. That is the equivalent of about 900 U.S. dollars. Hundt can afford this. Money should not be an issue. A post-fight urine test for both boxers is required in GBU/WIBF world title fights.)

Scarfone: Who pays for the doping test? The promoter or somebody else?

Lutz: The promoter pays.

Scarfone: Okay. Hundt was (acting as) the promoter and he didn’t want to pay though for one time. Why did he not want to pay for it? The drug test was waived. The WBF (World Boxing Federation) told me that it was waived. It wasn’t done.

Lutz: The WBF know nothing.

Scarfone: The WBF told me it was waived (which is one of the reasons why it pulled out of the event in addition to the officials being chosen by Hundt).

Lutz: I know this is political. (It is not political. It is the truth.)

Scarfone: I want to know why it was waived though.

Lutz: This is no problem for us, the doping test. We have doping tests.

Scarfone: It’s supposed to be done. Does Tissen always have a drug test waived?

Lutz: I don’t understand. The WBF was not there for that fight from Tissen.

Scarfone: They were there. They pulled out.

Lutz: I take the money from the promoter and give it to NADA from Cologne.

Scarfone: In the other fights, does Tissen always take a urine test or not? Does she ever take a drug test?

Lutz: Yeah, everything.

Scarfone: But one time, she didn’t take it. Was there ever another drug test waived for Tissen? Just tell me that. Was there ever another one waived?

Lutz: Tissen has the promoter. He (Hundt) must make the drug test.

Scarfone: I just want to know how many times she (Tissen) has not done a drug test. I know of one (test waived). Were there any more or you don’t recall or you don’t know?

Lutz: Everybody looks for mistakes from the other federations. The drug test is 850 euros. What is the problem?

Scarfone: Yeah, I know. The WBF said that Hundt didn’t want to do it because of money.

Lutz: We have two WBFs (World Boxing Federation and World Boxing Foundation). This is bull****.

Scarfone: I don’t think they (the World Boxing Federation) are lying to me.

Lutz: All this bull**** with the federations. We (the WIBF) were the first federation (women’s boxing sanctioning body).

Scarfone: I know you’re the first federation. The WIBF is the first women’s boxing federation, but all these other sanctioning bodies are competition. The major sanctioning bodies took away a lot of the top talent…as you know.

Lutz: Okay. I must go to my office. I have people there. They wait for me.

Scarfone: Thank you for talking to me, Jurgen.

I could not verify whether Tissen had any more waived drug tests in addition to the one I found out about from the WBF. However, I believe that it was not the first time that it happened. Lutz said that it is not a lot of money for the cost of a drug test, but that is the reason why Hundt said he did not want to do the drug test for Tissen. If the price of the test is the reason for waiving it, then the test could have been waived more than once for Tissen. I know that Hundt is a tightwad (unless he wants to spend money on things for himself like huge radio-controlled model helicopters and Rolex watches), but he had a mandatory anti-doping test (which is a post-fight urine test) waived for Tissen for her fight against Gabriella Busa last year.

Positive doping tests seem to be increasing among world-class athletes. The pressure and desire to win and make money causes some athletes to cheat with their urine samples such as through dilution or even switching the samples with “clean” urine samples. Tissen did not even take a urine test after her fight with Busa. If an athlete is not in his or her prime anymore and is declining in athletic ability, then there is the possibility of that athlete taking a banned substance in order to continue performing at the level that he or she previously did. Based on the answers to the questions I asked Lutz in my two interviews with him (this article and the previous one), Hundt gave Tissen the advantages of having the opponents and officials picked by him.

I want to emphasize how Tissen was able to obtain her championship belt collection. There were three sanctioning bodies involved and they are all based in Germany: Global Boxing Council (GBC), Global Boxing Union (GBU), and Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIBF). The WIBF also has an office in the United States where WIBF President Barbara Buttrick resides, but WIBF Vice President/GBU President Jurgen Lutz is running the business himself in Germany. The GBU and WIBF are within the same company. The titles that Tissen has won in her pro career are the GBC featherweight title, the GBC and GBU super bantamweight titles, the GBU featherweight title, the interim WIBF featherweight title, the WIBF featherweight title, and the GBC super featherweight title. The total record of Tissen’s opponents when she won these titles is 38-36-4 which is barely a winning record. If you calculate the winning percentage of these opponents of Tissen at the time that she first won these titles (not counting title defenses), you have to divide the number of wins (38) by the total number of wins and losses (38+36=74). 38 divided by 74 equals .514 or a winning percentage of 51.4%.

The only way that Tissen could have become a world champion is if the sanctioning bodies that are based in Germany made it much easier for Tissen to accomplish this. In any other country besides Germany, Tissen would have had to fight better opponents and the judges would not have been biased in her favor. Out of the six opponents that she fought in order to win these titles, only two had winning records. As you can see, Tissen’s accomplishment of being a “worldchampionesse” in three weight classes is not impressive. Pardon me while I borrow a proverb from Jurgen Lutz: “This is bull****.” Elina Tissen being a world champion in three weight classes is the biggest hoax in the history of women’s boxing. It also may be the biggest hoax in the history of boxing which includes the men.

I believe that the biggest hoax in the history of men’s boxing is when Zsolt Erdei of Hungary was the WBO light heavyweight champion for several years. Like Tissen, Erdei benefited from biased judging and did not usually fight world-class opponents when he defended his title. When he did fight boxers who were world-class, the biased judging was apparent. Even the television commentator was appalled by the blatantly biased judging in Erdei’s two fights against Hugo Hernan Garay which were won by Erdei by majority decision and split decision. Another fight I saw was stopped by referee Joe Cortez while Erdei’s opponent George Blades was still on his feet. Blades staggered a little from a punch, but it looked like a very premature stoppage to me. Erdei moved up to cruiserweight and won the WBC cruiserweight title against Giacobbe Fragomeni by majority decision. Again, it was a biased decision and Fragomeni should have won.

I think that Tissen being a world champion in three weight classes is a much bigger hoax than the situation with Erdei being a world champion in two different weight classes. Tissen is a mediocre boxer whose opponents usually were not worthy of a title shot. Erdei was not mediocre and he may have been world-class at some point in his career, but he never was truly a top ten light heavyweight. His opponents were not usually of world-class caliber, but he did fight more world-class opponents than Tissen. Also, he always fought opponents with winning records when he was a world champion. Bear in mind that when I state that Tissen’s reign as a world champion in three weight classes is the biggest hoax in boxing history, that is saying a lot considering that boxing does not have a pristine reputation because of the scandals and corruption that have occurred throughout its history. I truly believe that her boxing career is the biggest hoax. There is nothing else that comes close to it. Tissen was allowed to fight mostly mediocre opposition in her title fights throughout her career and benefited from biased judging. Tissen is not a world-class boxer and Lutz even said this to me in an interview for my previous article. I have confirmed that Hundt who is Tissen’s trainer/manager/promoter is picking the officials for her title fights. I have confirmed that at least one anti-doping test was waived for Tissen. I believe that there are probably more waived tests. It is possible that Tissen never took an anti-doping test for fights that the GBU and/or the WIBF sanctioned considering that there was collusion between Lutz and Hundt.

Tissen’s sponsors do not seem to care about how Tissen became a world champion and retained her title(s) for several years. Currently, they have a smiling pretty face who is a world champion in boxing to endorse their companies and products. They have a world champion that wears their company logos and/or uses their products. Do you think that these sponsors of Tissen care if she doesn’t take a mandatory anti-doping test? Do you think that these sponsors of Tissen care if her trainer/manager/promoter selects all the officials and opponents? The end justifies the means, right? All of the companies ignored me when I sent them messages except for the one that Hundt is the CEO of. The companies that sponsor Tissen will only care if enough people are aware of what has happened in Tissen’s career and complained about it to a point that it would affect their business from making money. Because these companies continue to sponsor Tissen, they are essentially condoning the cheating that has been done throughout Tissen’s career. They don’t care how she has become a world champion or how she has maintained it. They just care that she is a world champion.

One of Tissen’s major sponsors is ASO Safety Solutions and the company posted an article on their website. The article stated that Tissen was training on the “SpeedCourt” which was developed by ASO Safety Solutions and GlobalSpeed. I saw photos of it. It looks like a flat surface with squares on it that the athletes step on. The article states that the “SpeedCourt” was used to enhance Tissen’s speed and agility. I have news for the ASOles at ASO Safety Solutions. Your technology is not the reason why Tissen is a world champion. Tissen is a world champion because of two reasons: inferior opponents and biased decisions. Also, there is a waived anti-doping test and possibly more tests that were waived. It has become more frequent this year that boxers are testing positive for banned substances and Tissen did not even take the test. Obviously, the GBU/WIBF agreed to waive the test and Lutz just needed permission from the WBF as well. After the WBF pulled out, Lutz could have the test waived without asking for permission from anyone else.

The opponents that Tissen has fought when she won her WIBF featherweight title and defended her WIBF title have all been inferior or mediocre. In fact, Tissen won the WIBF featherweight title against two boxers with losing records: Juliette Winter (4-7-1) for the interim title and Doris Koehler (8-9-1). The only boxer with a winning record that Tissen fought in a WIBF featherweight title fight was Gabriella Busa who had a 3-2 record. The last time that Tissen faced a legitimate contender was in 2011 when she fought Fatuma Zarika and that was for a GBC title and not a WIBF title. Lutz should be selecting the mandatory challengers for Tissen. Lutz has delegated that responsibility to Tissen’s trainer/manager/promoter Maiki Hundt.

Tissen had a rematch against Busa on December 3, but Hundt did try to get a better opponent than Busa. However, Hundt could not because he does not like to spend money unless he wants to buy something expensive for himself, his company, or the people he cares about. He is extremely cheap when it comes to making offers to Tissen’s possible opponents. Brian Cohen is a manager of several female boxers and three of them are featherweight contenders. Cohen told me that Hundt wanted Nydia Feliciano to be Tissen’s opponent. Feliciano is rated No. 9 at featherweight by BoxRec and her record is 9-8-3. Feliciano has no wins by knockout. Hundt obviously does not want Tissen to fight anyone who could knock her out so that biased judging will enable her to win. Cohen informed Hundt that Feliciano would be unavailable, but instead offered Carla Torres who has a record of 5-3 and also has no wins by knockout. Torres was rated in the top ten by BoxRec, but is not currently rated due to inactivity of more than one year. Hundt would have accepted Torres as the opponent, but the sticking point was the amount of money for the purse.

Hundt stated to Cohen that he has a small promotion and blamed a lack of money on not having a television contract. Tissen has a new major sponsor though. It is a furniture store in Germany called Mobel Brameyer. In one of their ads, Tissen is lying on one of their beds smiling and wearing Paffen Sport boxing gloves. Tissen’s fights are not televised, so Hundt has sponsors to defray the cost of promoting the events even though Hundt apparently has enough money to buy Rolex watches and he is also CEO of WFA Manufaktur which is another sponsor of Tissen. Hundt made a paltry offer of $2,500 to Cohen which would have been paid to Torres. Hundt also only offered to pay for two plane tickets which means that Torres would only have one cornerman in her corner. Cohen replied that he would not let anyone that he manages get on an airplane and fight for that small of a purse. Cohen then made a counteroffer of $5,000 with three plane tickets for Tissen to fight Torres in the United States which would have been on November 10. Hundt rejected the offer and stated that Tissen had a fight on December 3. Hundt was looking for an opponent at the time, but he does not want Tissen to fight anywhere except Germany where Hundt can pick the officials. Therefore, Hundt stated that Tissen has a fight on December 3 and used that as an excuse to reject the better offer made by Cohen. Hundt later was able to get Busa to agree to a rematch against Tissen.

Tissen’s previous fight before that was against Jasmina Nadj on November 28, 2015. The WIBF rules state that WIBF world champions must defend the title within one year or be stripped of the title. Therefore, the deadline for Tissen to fight was November 28, 2016. Tissen’s rematch against Busa was a few days later on December 3. This fight should not have been sanctioned by the WIBF, but it was. Lutz allowed it to be sanctioned which was against the WIBF rules. Tissen should have been stripped on November 29 which was a day after the year deadline for her to make a title defense.

I looked on BoxRec to see what boxing commission was involved in this “event” on December 3. There were only two fights on the card. Tissen was fighting Busa who had a losing record of 4-6. The undercard was just one fight. Nermin Bahonjic made his pro debut against a boxer with a winless record of 0-5. Bahonjic won by knockout. Tissen won by unanimous decision with judges’ scores of 100-90. All three judges scored the fight identically and Busa did not win a single round. In Tissen’s entire pro career, the combined record of Tissen’s opponents at the time she fought them is 114-114-16. This is a winning percentage of 50%. Collectively, Tissen’s opponents win only half the time. The boxing commission was one that I never heard of before. It is called Bund Deutscher Faustkampfer which translates to “Bunch of German Pugilists.” Of course, it sounds ridiculous. I expect nothing less from Germany. I found out that the Bund Deutscher Faustkampfer (BDF) is the third and latest professional boxing commission in Germany. I sent an email to Artur Ellensohn who is the Vice President of the BDF. I asked him if Tissen took the required post-fight anti-doping test for this event in which the BDF was the commission. Since Tissen had the requirement waived for her previous fight against Busa, I wanted to know if it was waived again.

Ellensohn replied to me that the Tissen vs. Busa fight on December 3 was sanctioned by the WIBF and GBU. Ellensohn also stated that all of the officials for this fight were assigned by these federations: the supervisor, the judges, the referee, and the timekeeper. Ellensohn stated that “Nobody from the BDF was involved.” Ellensohn stated that he was not even present there at the fight. Once again, we have the same situation as in Tissen’s first fight against Busa which was in June 2015. The BDB was not involved in selecting the officials for that fight even though it was the commission for the event. For Tissen’s rematch against Busa, the BDF was not involved in selecting any of the officials. Since Tissen had the required anti-doping test waived for her first fight against Busa, I believe that the anti-doping test was waived again for the rematch against Busa. Obviously, the boxing commissions in Germany are there only for the undercard fights and have no control over Tissen’s world title fights.

Jurgen Lutz who is the GBU President and WIBF Vice President has the authority in Tissen’s fights which are sanctioned by the GBU and WIBF. Lutz again allowed Hundt to use his friends as officials for Tissen’s fight on December 3. Two of the judges have never judged a fight before. They have no record of ever being a judge prior to December 3. The third judge was also the referee! Hundt was so cheap that he didn’t want to pay for a separate person to be the third judge. The name of this judge/referee is Ibrahim Barakat who apparently is a good friend of Hundt. He has a history of judging fights in Germany which includes several of Tissen’s fights. He was the referee/judge for Tissen’s fight against Fatuma Zarika in 2011 which was the last time that Tissen fought a legitimate contender. He was the referee/judge for Tissen’s fight against Jane Kavulani in 2012. He was the referee/judge for Tissen’s fight against Doris Koehler in 2013. He was the referee/judge for Tissen’s two fights against Jasmina Nadj in 2014 and 2015. By the way, I don’t think having a referee as also one of the judges is abiding by the rules for a world title fight. There should be three judges and one referee who should not be the same person as one of the judges.

An article about the Tissen vs. Busa rematch was posted by the German news website Westfalische Nachrichten. Busa’s coach said “There is no better boxer anywhere in the world (translated from German).” He was referring to Tissen. When Tissen fights boxers with losing records, how can anyone say that Tissen is the best boxer in the world? The article described Tissen as having “…a slightly tired look. The ten rounds have cost strength. It was not a high-class fight…(translated from German).” The article also stated that Busa “…proved to be a tough opponent as in June 2015 (translated from German).” Busa’s record is now 4-7. Busa’s only win against an opponent with a winning record was a first round knockout against Karine Rinaldo of France. Because of that win, Busa has a decent rating on BoxRec. Busa is currently No. 17 in the super bantamweight division. You are probably wondering why Busa is rated at super bantamweight when she just recently fought in a featherweight title fight. Busa weighed just one-fourth of a pound over 121 pounds for the rematch against Tissen. Busa did not weigh at least 122 pounds which is the featherweight minimum. Busa was not within the required weight range and yet the fight was sanctioned as a world featherweight title fight.

Tissen was previously rated the No. 25 featherweight in the world on BoxRec.com. After Tissen’s win by unanimous decision against Busa on December 3, Tissen’s rating improved dramatically to No. 5. Tissen’s rating is now No. 4. Tissen’s Facebook page is bragging about the “accomplishment.” It is a total fraud and a fallacy. Tissen’s wins against legitimate contenders were the result of biased judges and referees. Biased officials were involved in probably all of her title fights in Germany, even when her opponents were mediocre. That is why her rating is so high. I have heard from a reliable source that the BDF was not pleased that Hundt was permitted to choose his friends to be the officials. Two of them were not qualified to be judging a world title fight and have no record of ever judged a professional fight before. Barakat has a history of being a biased judge for Tissen’s fights whether he is solely a judge or a judge/referee.

Because of my previous article about Tissen, I became friends with WIBF President Barbara Buttrick who lives in Miami Beach. I made Buttrick aware of the corruption that is going on with the sanctioning body that she created. Buttrick read the previous article, but it did not change anything. Lutz is still allowing Hundt to do whatever he wants. The WIBF and GBU are actually within the same company. The GBU was formed afterwards in order to have a base of operations in Germany. The GBU sanctions men’s and women’s boxing. The WIBF just sanctions women’s boxing. The intention of this agreement between the GBU and WIBF was that Buttrick was going to run the WIBF in the United States and the GBU would be run by Lutz in Germany. There were WIBF title fights in America, but there has not been one in recent years. Women’s boxing was not as popular in America as it was in Germany and other countries in Europe. Basically, Lutz ended up controlling both the WIBF and GBU even though Buttrick is majority owner and president of the WIBF. Lutz does not inform Buttrick of what is happening with the business including when he commits corrupt acts. Lutz is getting two sanctioning fees when Tissen fights because she has both the WIBF and GBU belts. Buttrick has received little compensation in recent years in spite of being the WIBF President and GBU Vice President. Lutz does not need the WIBF since the GBU sanctions women’s boxing as well. America needs the WIBF. Germany wants the WIBF because it is the oldest sanctioning body for women’s boxing that is still in existence. It has prestige and the Germans know this which is why they desire it and want to keep it for themselves. America has more talented female boxers than Germany does. American female boxers need a world title belt to fight for in America so they don’t have to get robbed in Mexico, Germany, and other foreign countries. Women’s boxing in America is like a sleeping giant about to be awakened, but it needs support from television and corporate sponsors.

I told Buttrick that the Germans are waiting for her not to be here anymore. In other words, they are waiting for her to die so that they can keep the WIBF for themselves. I asked Buttrick if she would get the WIBF out of Germany so that there can be WIBF world title fights again in America. I believe that the WIBF should be phased out of Germany. I believe that Lutz should come to Miami Beach where Buttrick lives and give back his shares of the WIBF to Buttrick. Buttrick would in turn give her shares of the GBU to Lutz. Essentially, the GBU and WIBF would separate. They would become two separate companies. There is no need for Tissen and other women in Germany to have both the WIBF and GBU belts when they are not two separate companies and are simply two sanctioning bodies within the same company. Lutz should come to America because I don’t trust Germany. I don’t know their laws and I definitely would not trust their lawyers. Will this happen? I don’t know, but Buttrick knows how I feel. If the WIBF ends up staying in Germany forever, it will be unfortunate. The WIBF still has prestige even though the major sanctioning bodies have supplanted the other sanctioning bodies such as the WIBF. Nevertheless, women’s boxing needs advocates more than any particular belt.

There is a battle happening not only inside the ropes, but also outside of it which was previously only behind the scenes. What will the public believe about Tissen? What will be her legacy and Hundt’s legacy? Hundt does not want you to read my articles about Tissen because he does not want you to know the truth. Schroder of the WBF told me that it is rare that any journalist truly investigates into boxing matters such as this. Some journalists are afraid to lose their press credential for the next show or are even threatened physically. Schroder also stated that most journalists simply do not care. I do it because I can. I do it because I care.

The photo for this article is copyright René Penno and used with permission.