By ZAID MOHAMMED Wednesday, March 26 2008

ONE OF Europe’s biggest female boxing hopes will seek to create history in the Caribbean when she fights Trinidad and Tobago’s Giselle Salandy on Saturday.

At least eight international championship belts will be at stake over ten rounds when Poland’s undefeated welterweight Karolina Lukasik seeks to extend her 9-0 record.

Born in Warsaw, the 26-year-old 184 cm tall boxer is trained by German coach Conny Mittermeier in Hamburg, Germany and is seen as a likely successor to now retired German boxing star Regina Hamlich.

Accompanied by her father Jerzy, second trainer Zaur Abdulcamidor and physiotherapist/cutman Busch Christoph, Lukasik, the WIBF and GBU champion, arrived in Trinidad on Easter Sunday.

Flown in specially courtesy Briko Air Services from Crown Point in Tobago, she is quietly confident of turning back the hometown favourite who is unbeaten in 15 professional bouts to date.

However when Lukasik enters the ring on Saturday night at the Centre of Excellence in Macoya, it will be the first time she will be seeing WBA and WBC title-holder Salandy in action.

Christoph, who is Polish-born but has been living in Hamburg for close to three decades said that Lukasik will be fighting “blind” against Salandy.

“We did not have the benefit of seeing a video of Salandy’s fights before coming to the Caribbean. So she is an unknown quantity to us,” said Christoph.

However he said this will not pose any particular problem for his fighter who has been doing just gymwork at the Crowne Plaza having completed her three-month preparation for the fight before leaving Germany.

The fight is promoted by businessman Harry Ragoonanan who is making his debut in professional boxing having taken over the financial and business affairs of Salandy.

Ragoonanan said yesterday he was very optimistic that his application for Government assistance for the fight will produce a positive result.