NEUBRANDENBURG, Germany (AP) – Juergen Braehmer defeated fellow German Eduard Gutknecht by unanimous decision for the second time to retain his WBA light heavyweight title on Saturday night.
The judges awarded it 116-111, 116-111 and 118-110 in favor of the 37-year-old southpaw, who was clearly better in the earlier rounds and was then able to withstand a spirited fight-back from the challenger.
“It was fine for the first six rounds, I was clearly in control, but then from the sixth or seventh I felt a pain in my left hand and you know how it is, you don’t want to take any risks. The opponent senses that too,” said Braehmer, who had been landing the cleaner blows.
Braehmer had a cut above his left eye in the ninth round from a clash of heads. The blood encouraged Gutknecht, who improved but his punches were wild or delivered close in, and he had a point deducted in the 10th after a number of warnings.
“Perhaps I was over-motivated for the first four rounds, I went in too eagerly and paid the price,” Gutknecht said. “Juergen is a clever boxer and he used it to his advantage. There was too much for me to make up. I’m sorry I couldn’t manage it but I gave it my all.”