Zsolt Erdei is getting back in the ring for the first time in almost a year, facing Elvir Muriqi for a scheduled 10-rounder?
?Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples.??George Burns
Is former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champ Zsolt Erdei looking to go out on a win? So it would seem. The 39-year-old Hungarian is getting back in the ring for the first time in almost a year, facing Elvir Muriqi for a scheduled 10-rounder at the Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange, New Jersey, on January 31. ?Firebird? suffered the only loss of his career last March, beaten by Denis Grachev via controversial split decision.
The first Hungarian to win titles in two weight divisions, Erdei won the WBO light heavyweight title in 2004 by defeating Julio Cesar Gonzalez via unanimous decision and the WBC cruiserweight championship in 2009 by beating Giacobbe Fragomeni via majority decision. He vacated the former title in 2009 and the latter in 2010. A pro since 2000, Erdei (33-1, 18 KOs) has only fought six times since 2007. Prior to the Grachev bout, he last entered the ring in June 2011, stopping Byron Mitchell by sixth-round TKO.
Thirty-four-year-old Muriqi is a 16-year pro (40-5, 24 KOs) who was born in Kosovo but now fights out of New York, New York. The ?Kosovo Kid? last fought in March 2013, beating Paul Vasquez by majority decision, his first bout since stopping Chris Grays by second-round TKO in December 2011. His five losses came by way of Dan Sheehan in 2000, Danny Santiago in 2004 (the only one to thus far stop the transplanted Kosovan), Oleksandr Garashchenko in 2005, Antonio Tarver in 2007, and Clinton Woods in 2009.
Muriqi?s opposition, at least in the aggregate, hasn?t been much to write home about. Vasquez, for instance, has a record of nine wins, three by knockout, four losses, and one draw, while Grays ?boasts? 10 wins, two by knockout, and 27 losses. Not exactly the best preparation for facing even a faded Erdei. Come January 31, Muriqi will cry out, ?Un? kam nevoj? p?r kujdes mjek?sor!? (Kosovan for ?I need medical attention!?)
Erdei by late-round stoppage.
And then what? I don?t share George Burns? disdain for retirement. My advice to Zsolt is that he retire and consume vast amounts of guly?s.
