Kretschmann Defeats Sanders

One time American heavyweight boxing contender Corey Sanders (23-12, 15 KOs) was humbled on Friday night, losing a unanimous decision to Steffen Kretschmann (10-0, 9 KOs) at the Estrel Convention Center, Neukoelln, in Berlin, Germany. Sanders, now 32, and badly overweight, was nothing more than a punching bag for the 27-year old German Kretschmann, who pounded away at Sanders round after round, hitting him on-stop with jabs, left hands, uppercuts and straight lefts.

The fight was in no way competitive and after four rounds, both Kretschmann and the German crowd looked decidedly uneasy with the way the one-sidedness of the bout, perhaps wishing that it could be over quicker. After the first round, Kretschmann looked like he had little heart in beating up on his grotesquely overweight opponent, and seemed to turn down the heat on his punches out of a mixture of respect and sympathy.

Most of the rounds, unfortunately, were exactly alike with Kretschmann content to throw an occasional jab or a straight left with nothing on it. Sanders would throw wild shots from the outside, but Kretschmann would easily dodge out of the way of them, looking like he were dodging a bull. Sanders initiated a great deal of clinches, only then was he able to land a number of shots while holding onto Kretschmann, who didn’t seem to mind as he returned the favor.