By Scott Gilfoid: WBA World light heavyweight champion Jurgen Braehmer (43-2, 32 KO’s) successfully defended his title on Saturday night in defeating the past his best Enzo Maccarinelli (38-7, 30 KO’s) in stopping him after the 5th round at the Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Maccarnielli’s right eye closed up after the 1st round from the left hands he was eating from Braehmer. Maccarinelli’s right cheek swelled up. It’s officially called a 6th round TKO despite the round not having started.
Maccarinelli wanted to keep fighting, but his trainer Gary Lockett cut off his gloves before the start of the 6th after telling him that he was too banged up to continue. Maccarinelli probably should have taken that moment to shove Lockett aside in order to keep fighting, but instead he passively let Lockett cut off his gloves. A more forceful fighter would have taken charge of the situation and read Lockett the riot act in order to keep the fight going, but Maccarinelli let let Lockett have his way. With his career on the line, Maccarinelli went out in less than assertive manner.
If it would have been me in there, they would have had to pull me off of Braehmer, because no way would I have let Lockett cut my gloves off the way Maccarinelli did.
It’s going to be interesting to see if there was any fracture to Maccarinelli’s right side of his face, because it was badly swollen up.
Most of the damage was done in the 1st round with Braehmer nailing a passive Maccarinelli in the 1st round. For some reason, Maccarinelli came out passive in the 1st round and let Braehmer get his shots off first rather than jumping on him immediately the way better light heavyweights like Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson would had they been in there. Those guys would have torn a limited fighter like Braehmer apart, but not Maccarinelli. He fought passively in the opening round and got nailed with one too many left hands to his right eye, and that did the damage to his eye.
Maccarinelli complained that he couldn’t see out of his eye after the 2nd round, but he decided to keep fighting in a round by round basis.
Braehmer mostly held after the 3rd round, as he realized that the fight would be halted sooner or later. Braehmer was content to land a shot and then hold to wait out the rounds, and avoid Maccarinelli’s desperation shots.
After the 5th, Maccarinelli’s trainer Gary Lockett said “Your face is a mess. You can’t go on.”
By the time Lockett stopped the fight, Maccarinelli’s left eye was also swelling up in addition to his right eye.
With this loss, it’s pretty much over for Maccarinelli. At 33, it’ll take him too long to work his way into another title shot, and that’s a big if in terms of whether he can even work his way back into a title shot.
Braehmer bounced around the ring throwing left hands during the fight, and bulling Maccarinelli around the ring during the first two rounds. The left hand to Maccarinelli’s right eye.
Maccarinelli didn’t fight like someone who wanted it tonight. He was way too under control to have had a chance to win. I mean, it was like he was stuck in 1st gear for the first three rounds, and by the time he shifted into 2nd gear, it was already way too late. We never did see Maccarinelli shift into 3rd and 4th. He just stayed in 2nd and let his trainer stop the fight after the 5th.
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