April 5, Rostock, Germany:

WBA regular lightheavy champ Juergen Braehmer retained the title by stopping Welsh challenger Enzo Maccarielli, who was retired by trainer and chief cornerman Gary Locket between rounds five and six with his right eye swollen shut. -It must be a thumb that caused the damage, said cutman Philippe Fondu, I could control the swelling but I could not open the eye.

Braehmer was cut over the right eye after taking one of Maccarinelli´s dangerous left hooks and it looked bad but was never a factor in the fight. The champion got off first and was able to smother the challenger on the inside which meant for a messy but exciting fight with the German a little sharper. Maccarinelly landed a good right in the third that stunned the champion but all three judges had Braehmer winning the five completed rounds. Enzo survived two inspections by the ringside physician but it was obvious he couldn’t see out of the right eye and Gary Lockett probably made the right decision to call it off and live to fight another day.

 

Supermiddle Tyron Zeuge (13-0) retained the WBO Youth title with a ninth round stoppage over outclassed Romanian Gheorghe Sabau (10-19, Sabau, a wild southpaw, was down late in the first and second rounds from right hand counters to the head, had points deducted in the sixht and eighth for headbutts and was finally floored with a right to the body early in the ninth and the towel came in ending the fight 37 seconds into the round. It was scored 80-67 twice and 79-67 for Zeuge, who again showed his talent.

-I put in him with Robert Stieglitz right away, said Kalle Sauerland. We can do it as WBO eliminator!

 

Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev (20-0) got three more rounds under his belt as he tuned for his upcoming fight against Wladimir Klitschko by stopping Croatian Ivica Perkovic (20-24) in four. Perkovic retired after the third with a claimed arm injury. Perkovic came in as a very late sub and can be a decent spoiler but here he was out of his league, knew it and acted accordingly. Pulev seemed to enjoy his workout but upped the pace in the third hurting Ivica with solid punches to the body. After the round Perkovic´s cornerman called over the referee and retired his man.

 

WBA I/C superwelter champ Jack Culcay (17-1) retained the title but failed to shine as he outscored Frenchman Salim Larbi (18-5-2) over twelve. It was scored 117-111 on all cards after a rather one-sided fight where Culcay kept chasing his taller opponent but even as he cut the ring off he couldn´t get to Larbi, who in turn was for the most part unable to use his longer reach and it became a fight with more misses than hits. In the last two Culcay tried to open but Larbi showed a good right and was able to stay out of trouble. Culcay had two former world champs in the corner in Artur Grigorian and Joey Gamache.

 

Lightheavy Enrico Koelling (13-0) had no problems in outscoring Croatian Mirzet Bajrektarevic (8-2) over eight. The highly capable German picked his shots well and won every round but could never hurt his opponent.

 

British superwelter Liam Williams (9-0-1) looked good in stopping Yuri Pompilio (5-9-2) at 0.53 of the eighth and final round. Williams handed out a one-sided beating against a very durable and awkward opponent. In the seventh Pompilio finally fell apart and he was hurt early in the eighth and went down and it was correctly waved over as he got up.

 

Tunisian middleweight Soufiene Ourgehi (7-3) won a close, majority decision over Dominik Britsch (28-2-19 after eight. it was close all the way with Britsch boxing on the move covering up well but punching enough to win rounds convincingly. Ourgehi kept coming but was seldom effective but was stronger and worked harder. In the last round it seemed as if Britsch was convinced he had done enough but instead Ouerghi got him under pressure and won the round clearly. It was scored 79-73 (which looked out of line) and 77-75 for Ouerghi and 76-76. For the once touted German this might be the end.

 

Jr welters Gavin Rees (9-0-1) and Renald "the Lion" Garrido (11-7-1) opened Sauerland Promotion´s big show at the Stadthalle in Rostock and battled to a eight round draw after an absorbing, tough fight where Garrido lived up to his nickname by taking the fight to the more skillful Rees, Rees was at times able to keep the distance and work off his southpaw jab but Garrido just kept coming and was the stronger man down the stretch. It was scored 77-75 for Rees and 76-76 twice.