By Tim Royner: Unbeaten Callum Smith (23-0, 17 KOs) will be trying to score an impressive knockout this Saturday night in fight against Juergen Braehmer (49-3, 35 KOs) in the semifinals of the World Boxing Super Series tournament at the Arena Nurnberger in Nuremberg, Germany.
(Photo credit: World Boxing Super Series)
Smith, 27, notes that Braehmer had problems with the fast pace of his fight against Nathan Cleverly in 2016. Smith isn’t saying that’s how he plans on fighting the 39-year-old Braehmer, but it’s likely that will be the case.
Cleverly beat Braehmer by a 6th round stoppage. Braehmer’s corner pulled him out of the fight after round 6 because of an arm injury he’d sustained. Despite the injury, Braehmer was leading on all 3 scorecards. Smith believes that if the injury had occurred later in the fight, Braehmer would have toughed it out and made it through the fight.
”Yeah hopefully, I would like to,” Smith said to skysports.com. ”He’s very clever, he knows what he’s doing, he’s been in with everyone, and I’ve got to expect the best version of him. He was winning the early rounds, but it was no secret he didn’t like the pace it was getting fought at,” Smith said.
It would be smart for Smith to focus on boxing Braehmer on Saturday rather than looking to bang him out with a big shot. That approach has been tried many times in the past against Braehmer, and it doesn’t work. Braehmer has never been knocked out before during his 19-year pro career, and he’s been in with a lot of hard punchers. Braehmer has been a pro since Callum Smith was 8-years-old.
The experience advantage alone is going to give Braehmer a huge edge over Smith. Braehmer is capable of giving a lot of different looks in his fights compared to Smith, who fights in the same way every time. Smith is a straight up slugger, and likely will never be able to change the DNA in his style of fighting. He is what he is. Smith’s success inside the ring hinges on his ability to walk his opponents down and slug them into submission.
Smith has yet to face his first mover. On Saturday, Smith will be meeting up with his first pure boxer in Braehmer, and it could be a real eye opener for him. Smith’s management has been careful with him in putting him in with opposition that was perfect for him style of fighting. They’ve put him in the best situation possible by matching him against guys like Luke Blackledge, Olegs Fedotoves, Norbert Nemesapati, Cesar Hernand Reynoso, Rocky Fielding, Abraham Hernandez and Tobias Webb. None of those fighters could move to get out of the way of Callum Smith’s shots. Braehmer is going to be a different story on Saturday.
Smith might need to have different game plans to employ against the fast-moving Braehmer for him to beat him. Smith’s normal style of slowly walking down his opponents will be made to order for Braehmer. The German fighter does really well against fighters that plod forward the way Smith typically does.
Smith will need to move his feet faster because his fighting style could be ineffective against Braehmer. Smith walks his opponents down in the same way Nathan Cleverly used to. Now that Braehmer has been in with Cleverly, he’ll know how to deal with Smith’s pressure.
The winner of the Smith-Braehmer fight will move to the finals of the World Boxing Super Series tournament on June 2. It’s still too early to know if George Groves will be in the finals to face the Smith vs. Braehmer winner. Groves injured his left shoulder last Saturday night in defeating Chris Eubank Jr. in their semifinals fight in the WBSS.