By Per Ake Persson

EBU light heavyweight champ Eduard Gutknecht (24-1, 9KOs) has a new mandatory challenger and that is no other than former WBO king Juergen Braehmer (38-2, 30KOs).

When and where is still open and the parties, Sauerland Event and Universum, now have a period for free negotiations before a date for purse bids is set.

Braehmer was once called the biggest talent in German boxing in the past 100 years and one can't argue with that. He was an exellent talent, on the level with for instance Mikkel Kessler. But where the Viking Warrior went relatively straight up to world class despite a series of injuries Braehmer got into all kinds of problems and when he did win a world title he was good but not as good as he could have been. More problems followed and Juergen was eventually stripped of the WBO title.

In Gutknecht he faces a good fighter, far from a natural, but a capable, well-schooled boxer.

This all-German matchup will be one of the fights to look forward to for the next season.