By Erik Schmidt: Unbeaten cruiserweight prospect Alexander Frenkel (16-0, 12 KOs) defeated South African Ruben Groenewald (22-7-3, 9 KOs) in a 5th round TKO on Saturday night at the Burg-Waechter Castello, in Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. In the 5th round, Frenkel, 24, caught Groenewald with a straight right hand to the jaw, and then immediately followed it with a crushing left hook to the side of Groenewald’s head, staggering him and sending him down on the canvas.
Although he got up and continued fight, the referee stepped in and stopped the fight seconds later after Groenewald staggered will trying to avoid getting hit by a big uppercut thrown from Frenkel. Referee Franco Ciminale officially stopped the bout at 1:16 of the 5th.
Frenkel, originally from Ukraine and now living in Germany, used mostly his jab in the first four rounds of the fight. It was like seeing a completely different fighter, because Frenkel generally likes to throw mainly power shots consisting of left hooks (his favorite weapon) and right hands. However, Frenkel instead chose to battle Groenewald with his jab alone. For his part, Groenewald attacked continuously, pressuring Frenkel and causing him to back up through much of the fight. Frenkel was able to land short punches while going backwards, but he looked like he was holding back his power shots for some reason.
In the 5th round, Frenkel came out looking like a completely different fighter, throwing hard left hook/right hand combinations and causing Groenewald to back up for the first time in the fight. A short time later, Frenkel landed a tremendous right hand to the jaw of Groenewald and followed it immediately with a big left hook that sent a staggering Groenewald to the canvas.
He was able to make it up, but he was badly hurt and staggered again without being hit. The referee immediately stopped the bout after seeing Groenewald staggering around. After the fight was stopped, Groenewald was still unable to walk without listing slightly to one side as if he was walking down a slope.