By Erik Schmidt: Undefeated cruiserweight contender Alexander Alekseev (16-0, 15 KOs) be facing Argentinean Victor Emilio Ramirez (13-1, 11 KOs) for the interim WBO cruiserweight title on January 17th at the Burg-Waechter Castello, in Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Alekseev, 27, a former 2004 Olympian from Russia, currently ranked #2 in the WBO, #4 in the WBC, #7 in the WBA and #8 in the IBF, is coming off an impressive 3rd round stoppage in September over Rob Calloway. Enzo Maccarinelli may be in the future for Alekseev if he defeats Ramirez.
In his fight with Calloway, Alekseev knocked Calloway down with a series of big shots in the 3rd round, and then dropped him once again with left hands after he got up off the canvas. The fight was then stopped by the referee. Alekseev, perhaps the best cruiserweight in the division at this time, dominated Calloway from the start, easily controlling the fight and rarely getting hit by the American.
Pounding him to the body and head from the 1st round, Alekseev pursued him around the ring, tagging him and easily avoiding Calloway’s clumsy attacks. It looked as if Alekseev could have taken Calloway out at any time, but opted to let the fight go on a little longer for work. In the end, Calloway was mercifully taken out with three big left hands in the 3rd thus ending this one-sided fight.
In other action on the card, light heavyweight contender Jürgen Brähmer (31-2, 25 KOs) will go up against Rubin Williams (29-5-1, 16 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Brähmer, 30, is coming off a 12-round decision loss to Hugo Hernan Garay in November.
Brähmer, who was challenging for Garay’s World Boxing Association light heavyweight title, was never really in the fight, as he was unable to handle the fast combinations and the high punch volume of Garay. The final judges’ scores were 118-110, 117-112 and 116-115.
The scores, though, seemed way out of touch with the actual fight, because Brähmer appeared to lose every round of the fight and didn’t look to have come close to winning any of the rounds. It’s not that Brähmer wasn’t trying, because he gave it his all, but he just didn’t have the offensive firepower to compete with the busy style of Garay.
In the 2nd half of the fight, after controlling the first six rounds with single shots, Garay changed his offensive style, focusing more on short, sustained combinations. Brähmer, as before, stood no chance and wasn’t able to keep up with the constant downpour of shots from Garay. Still, the loss didn’t affect Brähmer’s rankings too much, as he’s ranked #2 in the WBO and #5 in the WBA, and within striking distance of a title shot against WBO champion Zsolt Erdei.
WIBF Women’s International Boxing Federation featherweight and WBC female featherweight champion Ina Menzer (22-0, 9 KOs) will be defending her titles against Esther Schouten (22-4-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Menzer, 28, from Kazakhstan, recently defeated Adriana Salles (11-4-1, 5 KOs) in a one-sided 10-round decision in November.
It was Menzer’s 12th title defense of her WIBF belt, and an impressive one. Menzer drilled Salles often with big right hands and powerful jabs and seemed to get warmed up as the fight progressed. Menzer hurt Salles in the 6th and 7th rounds, but was unable to put her away. However, the fight remained one-sided for the duration of the 10-round bout.