By Alexey Sukachev
Sport and Congress Center, Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany - One of Germany's best, WBA 'regular' light heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer (44-2, 32KOs), won a twelve round unanimous decision over Argentinian challenger Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (35-3). The scores were 119-108, 119-108, and 118-109.
Braehmer acquired the "regular" WBA belt last December in a fight with Marcus Oliveira from the United States and then defended it with an injury-induced stoppage win over Welsh veteran Enzo Maccarinelli. Against WBC #7 and WBA #14 rated Bolonti, a tough and physically strong but straightforward operator he was seemingly promised to get a soft touch.
However, Bolonti proved to be finer than many expected. He was overly cautious though and it cost him some points early on, when Braehmer threw and landed just a little bit more than his Argentinean opponent. When Bolonti did open up, the German veteran was right near him scoring with powerful right bombs, prompting Bolonti back into his
defensive shell until the next offensive move.
Braehmer enjoyed a good surge in the middle of the fight, when his punches started to land well onto Bolonti's chin and body. The Argentinean responded with some dirty tactics, including holding and hitting and also hitting behind the back of the head. Finnish referee Erkki Meronen was forced to take a point from him in round eight for all these sins.
Bolonti suddenly turned loose in the twelfth and gave the champion some stern moments but it was way too little and way too late for him to capitalize on that. At the end, all three judges saw it almost identically: 119-108 (Jean Francois Toupin and Jesus Morata Garcia) and 118-109 (Mikael Hook) - for Braehmer, who improves to 44-2, with
32 KOs, and hasn't lost a fight since 2008. Bolonti is down to 35-3, 24 KOs.
------------------
WBO #11 ranked super middleweight Tyron Zeuge (14-0, 8 KOs) successfully retained his WBO Youth 168lb title with the dominating stoppage of rugged Albanian Armand Cullhaj (15-5-3, 9 KOs) in round nine.
Zeuge wasn't planning a blitzkrieg in this one. He has accurately calculated his opponent while preserving the tempo, which was most favorable for him. Cullhaj was aggressive and tried to bring it to Zeuge but he found that the German possesses not only youth and power but also the skills to go with. As the bout progressed, Zeuge's advantage became more and more telling. He forced a knockdown on Cullhaj with a combination of punches in round seven, only ropes preventing the Albanian from going down, and then finished him off later in round nine after yet another bombardment. Time of stoppage was 1:12. Referee was Mikael Hook of Sweden.
------------------
The second time was no charm for powerfully built but not so skilled Germany-based Nigerian Jessica "Sugar J" Balogoun (24-4, 12 KOs), as she lost her second title shot this year and also her second title shot to world's best female welterweight Cecilia "The First Lady" Braekhus (25-0, 7 KOs).
Braekhus wasn't as aggressive as Balogoun but she showed her wisdom and refined boxing skills against a straightforward opponent. Balogoun pressed the action for no good; no knockdowns from either side were scored in this fight as well.
Braekhus has already fought Balogoun two years ago and won a hard-fought unanimous decision. This time her victory was even more convincing. Scores were: 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 - for the Norse welterweight queen, who retained her WBA/WBC/WBO titles for the 14th time (at least some of them). Balogoun earlier lost in her bid for the WBF and WBO middleweight titles to Christina Hammer.
------------------
Enrico Koelling (14-0, 4 KOs), a 2012 London Olympian for Team Germany, continued his steady rise in the light heavyweight ranks with a spirited but close win over tough Frenchman Patrick Bois (11-3-1, 2 KOs), a former French 175lb champion. Scores were unanimous for Koelling: 115-113 (Manuel Javier Palomo), 116-113 (Joerg Milke) and 116-112 (Jean Francois Toupin) - for the German fighter, who acquired a vacant WBA I/C belt in this fight.
Koelling isn't a fighter who will immediately pop up into someone's mind as a prospect to look after. He doesn't have a big punch and displays average speed, but he is always in good shape, always steady and willing and consistent. His best qualities were on display against the rugged Frenchman, who tried to deliver as much as he took. Koelling wisely used his jab and also added a surprisingly big number of body shots to continuously frustrate Bois until he's got too winded to finish the bout strongly. BoxingScene had it 116-112 - also for Koelling.
------------------
Comebacking WBO #10-rated heavyweight David Price (18-2, 15 KOs) didn't look like his usual destructive self against former kickboxer Yaroslav Zavarotniy (16-7, 14 KOs) - but scored a well-earned unanimous decision over ten rounds.
Price was effective with his classic boxing, using his jab and adding powerful right hands on occasion. Zavorotniy concentrated mostly on defense, doing his best to prevent Price from dealing more damage. There were many clinches and much holding in this contest, with the British fighter definitely getting the best of the majority of exchanges. However, Zavorotniy was never in serious danger of being stopped and easily survived till the end of this not very eventful fight.
Final scores were: 97-92, 98-92 and 100-90 - for Price. BoxingScene saw it 98-92 as well.
------------------
Cruiserweight Norair Mikaelyan, also known as Noel Gevor, easily dispatched previously unstoppable Hungarian Bela Juhasz (8-3, 5 KOs) in two rounds.
Gevor had little problem finding the target in the chubby Hungarian. His punches were powerful and precise forcing Juhasz to concentrate solely on survival. He was down at the end of round one after a huge right hand to the solar plexus but referee Jozef Temml erroneously didn't rule it as a knockdown. Gevor didn't argue but just finished his job in round two after some more combos. The ending point was stamped with a left jab that sent Juhasz crushing down. He got up but Temml indicated he wasn't ready (despite Juhasz saying he was) and counted him out at 2:28 of the round. Gevor is now 12-0, with 7 KOs.
------------------
18-year old super middleweight prospect Vincent Feigenbutz (13-1, 12 KOs) made his successful debut for the Sauerland Event with a kayo victory over fellow once-defeated Romanian Gheorghe Sabau (10-2, 6 KOs) in round three.
Sabau made it look tough for the German in the starting couple of rounds. His jab was effective and he used his upper body movement to prevent Feigenbutz from constant scoring. It has all changed in the third, when after a rocky start the German youngster started to deliver punches in bunches. He clearly dominated the second and the third minutes of the round, and then pinned Sabau to the corner, where his right hand had the Romanian down immediately. Sabau looked being knocked out cold, prompting the referee to halt the action with just three secs remaining in the stanza. Sabau immediately showed signs of clear conscience right after that to a bitter displeasure of his team.
------------------
Former WBA cruiserweight champion Firat Arslan (34-7-2, 21 KOs) made his successful ring return following a TKO loss to reigning WBO beltholder Marko Huck this January and convincingly outpointed brave Hungarian Tamas Bajzath (9-11-1, 5 KOs) over eight rounds with a unanimous decision.
On the surface, the 43-year old Germany-based Turk was at his best, showing trademark poise and aggression. However, his skills began to fade as did his reflexes and even punching power. Courageous but very limited Bajzath was able to survive a prolonged onslaught and even scored several times with combinations of his own.
Arslan has been using his body punches to repeatedly hurt the Hungarian during the fight, and finally dropped him down in the eighth but failed to get the job done. All three judges saw it identically: 80-71 - for Arslan.