Juergen Braehmer vs. Konni Konrad this Saturday, September 5th in Dresden, Germany

By Boxing News - 09/01/2015 - Comments

braehmer336By Scott Gilfoid: WBA World light heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer (46-2, 34 KOs) will be defending his title this Saturday against 30-year-old #7 WBA Konni Konrad (22-1-1, 11 KOs) in a voluntary defense at the Energie Verbund-Arena, Dresden, Sachsen.

This is pretty much a tremendous mismatch similar to Braehmer’s recent mismatches in his last three fights against Robin Krasniqi, Pawel Glazewski, Roberto Feliciano Bolonti, and Enzo Maccarinelli.

There’s talk of the soon to be 37-year-old Braehmer being interested in a unification match against WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson for later this year, but I’ll believe that when I see it. Braehmer has too much of a good thing going with him taking the easy opposition that the World Boxing Association has been ranking in their top 15.

The only thing that could trip Braehmer up is if he eventually has to face the likes of #2 WBA Andrzel Fonfara or #3 WBA Artur Beterbiev. Those guys would be pure trouble for Braehmer. If Braehmer beats Konrad, which he obviously be doing quite easily this Saturday, Braehmer could be facing the winner of the October 16th Nathan Cleverly vs. Fonfara fight.

“In November, a fight with [Sergey] Kovalev will not happen,” Braehmer’s promoter Kalle Sauerland said via skysports.com. “We certainly would like to organize this fight. We are also discussing the possibility of a fight with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson…as the unification of titles is a priority for us.”

It’s really hard for me to believe that Braehmer will be facing someone like Adonis Stevenson in a unification match. The only way I can make sense out of a fight like this is if Braehmer is thinking of retiring, or he figures that a fight against Fonfara is so dangerous that he might as well take on Stevenson. I mean, I think it would be the end of the line for Braehmer as the WBA “regular” 175 pound champion if he faces someone like Fonfara. If that’s someone he’ll need to face soon, then it’s far better for Braehmer to take the biggest fight possible against Stevenson.

I’m not surprised that Braehmer and Sauerland aren’t going for the Kovalev fight. I think the money might be a little bit better for Braehmer if he faces Stevenson due to his ability to attract huge crowds in Canada for his fights.

A fight against Stevenson would make Braehmer some good money. But still, it’s difficult to picture Braehmer battling Stevenson in a unification match after seeing the weak opposition that Braehmer has been facing for the past year and a half since picking up the vacant WBA World light heavyweight title in December 2013 with a win over Marcus Oliveira.

“It is business as usual. He wants my title and that is the chance of his life,” Braehmer said about Konno Konrad via RingTV.com. “As the champion I cannot take a step back but must prove why I am still on top.”

Let’s be real about this; a fight against Konni Konrad isn’t going to prove anything for Braehmer. It’s just going to show that he’s taking the easy path again by fighting a very, very beatable opponent instead of someone who could potentially beat him like Fonfara, Beterbiev, Sullivan Barrera or Yunieski Gonzalez.



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