Juergen Braehmer vs Eduard Gutknecht Preview March 12th
WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Juergen Braehmer of Germany will be taking on Eduard Gutknecht of Kazakhstan this Saturday, March 12 at the Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenburg, Germany. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports 2. This will be the champion’s sixth title defence. He met Gutknecht three years ago and beat him for the European in February of 2013 via a unanimous decision. He then won the WBA crown by beating Marcus Oliveira in December of the same year.
Braehmer vs Gutknecht Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Eduard Gutknecht +700
- Juergen Braehmer -1100
My Pick
The 37-year-old Braehmer climbs into the ring with a record of 47-2 with 35 Kos while the 33-year-old Gutknecht is currently 29-3-1 with 12 Kos. Gutknecht has earned his title shot by winning four straight fights and is looking to avenge his earlier loss to Braehmer, which he blames on bad judging. However, the challenger should perhaps be thankful that he’s been given a title shot since he isn’t ranked in the top 15 light heavyweights by the WBA. He’s basically a super middleweight who’s ranked number six in that division by the WBO.
Gutknecht’s most recent wins have been against the likes of Arman Torosyan, Slavisa Simeunovic, Steve Kroekel and Christian Pawlak and none of them could be considered top contenders. Braehmer hasn’t been facing any world beaters either lately as he’s defended his crown against Konni Konrad, Robin Krasniqi, Pawel Glazewski, Roberto Feliciano Bolonti and Enzo Maccarinelli. Braehmer doesn’t have much of a fan base outside of Germany and likely won’t until he starts meeting world-class fighters such as Sergey Kovalev, Jean Pascal, Adonis Stevenson, Lucian Bute, Bernard Hopkins, Beibut Shumenov or Isaac Chilemba.
Even though he’s face mostly Grade B opponents over the years, Braehmer does possess pretty good power in his punches while Gutknecht doesn’t. The champion is a southpaw who stands just under 6-feet tall with a 71.5-inch reach. His knockout percentage is currently 71 per cent and he has 273 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 1999. His first loss came to Mario Veit in 2006 by way of a 12-round majority decision and his second defeat was a 12-round unanimous decision in 2008 to Hugo Hernan Garay. Braehmer is a decent boxer with a good jab and enough power to stop most opponents, but he’s yet to be tested by a world-class boxer and won’t be on Saturday night.
The challenger Gutknecht stands just under 6-feet tall and has an unlisted reach. He turned pro back in 2006 and has 230 rounds under his belt since then. His current knockout ratio is just 36 per cent. He’s got a decent chin and has been stopped once in his three losses. He’s not a natural light heavyweight though and hasn’t really beaten anybody of note to be getting a title shot here.
Prediction……
Braehmer has the skills and power to stop a limited opponent such as Gutknecht, but all the same, he can’t afford to take him too lightly. Gutknecht should be motivated for this encounter, but he’s simply too small and not skilled enough to outbox the champion over 12 rounds. Also, he doesn’t have the power to hurt somebody with such a solid chin as the champion. Therefore, look for Braehmer to successfully defend his belt via another dull decision or late stoppage.
This will probably be on the dull side with Brahemer holding onto his title. .
Play: Brahemer -1100 @ 5dimes.eu
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Eduard Gutknecht betting • Juergen Braehmer betting