(Photo credit: Sebastian Heger) By Scott Gilfoid: We just saw Sergey Kovalev prove that he’s heads above the other fighters in the 175 pound division last Saturday night in defending his IBF/WBA/WBO belts with a win over Jean Pascal, but now we’re going to see what some boxing fans believe is a weaker paper champion in the division in WBA regular light heavyweight champion Jurgen Braehmer (45-2, 33 KOs) defending his title against #2 WBA Robin Krasniqi I43-3, 16 KOs) this Saturday, March 21st at the Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
What’s confusing about the Braehmer-Krasniqi fight, besides the fact that there are three world champions in the light heavyweight division, is the fact that the World Boxing Association has 27-year-old Krasniqi ranked #2 with their organization.
That might be lost on a lot of casual boxing fans unless they actually have seen Krasniqi fight before. In that case, they would likely be wondering what in the world is the WBA thinking of in giving Krasniqi a No.2 ranking, given how average he’s looked over his career. I mean, the WBA has Krasniqi ranked about Bernard Hopkins, Arthur Beterbiev, Jean Pascal, Nadjib Mohammedi, Sullivan Barrera and Marcus Browne.
I can’t see Krasniqi beating any of those guys, or even coming close to beating any of them. That’s what makes it all so strange. Why is the WBA ranking a guy so highy after he was totally trounced by Nathan Cleverly two years ago in 2013 in losing a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision? I don’t understand it, but I do think it cheapens the WBA’s own organization with rankings like this. To me, the WBA’s rankings in division after division are totally upside down with mediocre fighters ranked above the talented ones.
“You can’t do more, now I’m top shape, motivated to the tip of my hair, on weight and nothing and no one can stop me now,” Krasniqi said via Fightnews.com. “I’ll take advantage of this world title shot against Juergen Braehmer and I’ll finally get the belt.”
I don’t see Braehmer as a good fighter, but I do think he’s good enough to beat a limited guy like Krasniqi. I can see Braehmer literally winning this fight one-handed. That’s how much of a mismatch this fight is. Krasniqi is so basic it’s not even funny, and he totally lacks punching power.
After losing to Cleverly in a failed attempt to capture his WBO title, Krasniqi has beaten the following fighters to get another world title shot: Dariusz Sek, Oleksandr Cherviak, Emmanuel Danso, and Tomas Adamek. I know the last name I mentioned, Adamek, will confuse the casual boxing fans, because they’ll think I’m getting him mixed up with the heavyweight Tomasz Adamek who goes by a similar but identical name, but they’re two different people. There’s the heavyweight Tomasz Adamek, and the light heavyweight Tomas Adamek. Needless to say, the light heavyweight version is nothing special, as Krasniqi was able to beat him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMtU1iDQ94w
I don’t think these guys are nearly good enough for Krasniqi to be given a #2 ranking by the WBA or any sanctioning body. I certainly don’t see these fighters as good enough ones for Krasniqi to be given yet another world title shot. Off of these wins, I would have Krasniqi ranked dead bottom of the WBA at No.15, but definitely no higher than that. None of Krasniqi’s other wins during his career has been against guys good enough for him to rate a high ranking in the top 5.
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