By Jason Kim: Former WBO light heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer (38-2, 30 KO’s) will be challenging EBU light heavyweight champion Eduard Gutknecht (24-1, KO’s) on February 2nd at the Max Schmeling Halle, in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany.

Braehmer, 34, lost his WBO title in 2010 when the World Boxing Organization stripped him of it for failing to defend the belt against unbeaten challenger Nathan Cleverly. Since then, Braehmer has fought twice, beating Jose Maria Guerrero and Vikapita Meroro. He didn’t fight at all during 2011. Surprisingly, Braehmer didn’t look all that bad in beating the hard hitting but over-matched Meroro last year in April.

Unfortunately for Braehmer, he didn’t fight for the remainder of the year and when he does end up fighting in February, he’ll have been out of the ring for 10 long months. That’s not good for Braehmer because that’s like losing two years of his career. I mean he’s still young enough to still be successful if he stays busy and keeps moving forward, but you don’t like to see fighters losing that kind of time.

Gutknecht, 30, won the European Boxing Union title in May of 2011, beating Danny McIntosh by an 8th round TKO. Gutknecht has defended the title three times, beating Lorenzo Di Giacomo, Vyacheslav Uzelkov and Tony Averlant. Gutknecht was beaten by the busier Robert Stieglitz by a 12 round unanimous decision in April 2010.

Gutknecht couldn’t keep up with Stieglitz’s superior offensive weaponry in that fight and it cost him the decision. Gutknecht did far too much clinching in that fight, and he looked exhausted by the mid-point of the bout.

Braehmer should be able to win this fight against Gutknecht if he can take the fight to him. Braehmer has that southpaw stance going for him and his excellent power. I don’t know if he’s going to be able to stop Gutknecht but I do think he can definitely outwork him.