Nathan Cleverly Stops Juergen Braehmer to Win WBA Light Heavyweight Title & David Price Back On Winning Track
In the main event of the evening, from Neubrandenburg, Germany, Welshman Nathan Cleverly, 30-3, 16 KO’s, stopped Juergen Braehmer, 48-3, 35 KO’s, in an all out war to capture the WBA (regular) world light heavyweight title. The bout was stopped before the start of the seventh round after Braehmer dislocated his right elbow. The event was promoted by Matchroom Boxing and was aired live on Sky Sports.
Cleverly Vs Braehmer was first scheduled to take place on May 21, 2011. Braehmer held the WBO light heavyweight title, but was kept out of the ring while he successfully appealed a prison sentence for assault. Cleverly had just won the WBO interim light heavyweight title after beating Frenchman Nadjib Mohammedi by unanimous decision on December 11, 2010.
The two had been slated to fight for the full WBO title. Before the fight could take place, Braehmer pulled out of the bout due to an eye injury he suffered in training. Cleverly was awarded the full title, and the fight never materialized; until now.
Cleverly came into this fight after losing a unanimous decision to Andrzej Fonfara, 28-4, 16 KO’s, in a candidate for fight of the year in 2015. Cleverly and Fonfara combined to throw 2,524 punches over twelve rounds, marking a new CompuBox record at light heavyweight. Braehmer came into this fight looking to make the seventh defense of his WBA (regular) world light heavyweight title, after beating Marcus Oliveira, 26-3, 21 KO’s, by unanimous decision for the vacant title on December 14, 2013.
Cleverly came out on the attack right from the opening bell tonight. He backed Braehmer up in the first round and didn’t let the German fighter breathe. Braehmer had a change of heart in the second round and decided to go toe to toe with the aggressive Welshman. This made for a very exciting fight, with neither boxer willing to take a step back. The next few rounds were back and forth, with both fighters trading leather and throwing punches nonstop. Cleverly seemed to be dictating the pace of the fight. In the sixth round, Braehmer’s pace had slowed substantially, and Cleverly stayed on the attack, backing him up the entire round. The fight was then unexpectedly called to a stop before the start of the seventh round, and it was later revealed that Braehmer had dislocated his elbow. Nathan Cleverly is now a two-time world champion at light heavyweight, and he will likely be ordered to face the winner of Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev by the WBA in an effort to reduce the number of belts (Kovalev is the WBA “super” world light heavyweight champion).
In the co main event; cruiserweight prospect Artur Mann, 8-0, 6 KO’s, won a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Paul Drago, 9-1-1, 2 KO’s. Mann started strong, attacking and overwhelming Drago in the first round. He started to use more footwork in rounds three and four, boxing well and moving in and out. After the fifth round; Mann began to slow down and Drago stepped up the pressure. Drago started to build momentum, but he had already lost to many rounds early on. Mann finished strong in the eighth and final round to secure a victory and keep his undefeated record intact.
In an undercard bout; super lightweight prospect Ohara Davies, 13-0, 11 KO’s, stopped Chaquib Fadli, 13-8, 7 KO’s, in the second round of a scheduled six. Davies boxed smart, bouncing in and out and seemed to hurt Fadli every time he landed cleanly. Fadli tried to get in Davies head by taunting him at times, which got the crowd excited, but he failed to back up his taunting. His legs seemed to be gone in the second round, and a right hand eventually sent him falling to the canvas and the fight was over.
In the opening bout of the broadcast; Heavyweight contender David Price, 21-3, 18 KO’s, stopped Ivaca Perkovic, 22-31, 17 KO’s, in the second round in what was very much a tune up fight for Price. It seemed as though He could’ve stopped Perkovic at any time, but the end came in the second after Perkovic was hit with a body shot and turned to the ref and waved his hand to say he was done. Price stated he wants Joseph Parker next, and then IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua after that.
[si-contact-form form=’2′]