By Gav Duthie: Another night, another routine defence for Jurgen Braehmer now 48-2 (35). Braehmer beat Eduard Gutknecht by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night in Germany. At age 37 you need to ask the question what does he want for the rest of his career.
This was the 6th successful defence of his WBA regular title, where Sergiy Kovalev owns the full title. This is the second spell the German has had with this title. It reminds me of the reign of Sven Ottke where he was content to defend his titles at home make decent money against average fighters as opposed to testing himself in major unification bouts, top contenders or big money bouts. If Braehmer does decide to step out of his comfort zone.
Rankings WBA
Super: Sergey Kovalev
Regular: Jurgen Braehmer
1. Felix Valera
2. Andrzej Fonfara
3. Artur Beterbiev
4. Sean Monaghan
5. Jean Pascal
6. Sullivan Barrera
7. Bernard Hopkins
8. Marcus Browne
9. Thomas Oosthuizen
10. Mirco Ricci
Top fights
Obviously the big money fights if available would be the unification fights against Sergey Kovalev, Adonis Stevenson and pound for pound star Andre Ward.
Next level
Braehmer is currently fighting at C-level so even he can’t get the other champions then there are still many big fights. Any of the WBA ranked fighters from #2 Andrzej Fonfara, #3 Artur Beterbiev, #5 Jean Pascal or #7 Bernard Hopkins would create significant legacy and financial opportunities and you can add in the likes of Eleider Alvarez and Nathan Cleverly. Braehmer lost his WBO title 5 years ago when he failed time and time again to fight Cleverly due to injury. Braehmer went from April 2010-January 2012 before he fought again but has won 12 fights since and last night was his second UD win over Eduard Gutknecht after he beat him in 2013.
Forgotten man
I like Braehmer he is slicker and quicker than he looks, he moves well and he packs a decent punch. I don’t think he can beat the top 175 lb fighters but we should at least take the chance to find out. If he continues to fight the likes of Gutknecht the rest of his career he will soon retire and be forgotten about just as quickly.
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