Braehmer had a successful first defense of his light heavyweight title, but it wasn't all smooth sailing.

View full size photo »

In Mecklenburg, Germany, Juergen Braehmer successfully defended his WBO light heavweight title against game combatant Dmitry Sukhotsky.  Throughout the fight, the Russian challenger showed better speed and a higher workrate, while the German titlist showed better form, more power, and a bit more elusiveness. The official scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.  Bad Left Hook scored the bout 116-111, giving Sukhotsky one 10-8 round without the benefit of a knockdown.

In the early rounds, Braehmer was able to take control with relative ease, as Sukhotsky came forward behind weak arm punches, with Braehmer throwing strong hooks to the head and body, while mixing in a good number of uppercuts when the two got inside.  Halfway through the bout, it looked like Braehmer was about to steamroll Sukhotsky, but the resiliant Russian came back to win the next couple of rounds. 

Finally, the action really started to pick up around the eighth round.  With Sukhotsky knowing he was hopelessly behind, he started to stand and trade with Braehmer a bit more.  While it seemed that Braehmer had the much bigger punch, Sukhotsky was able to badly hurt and stagger Braehmer in the tenth round, and he unloaded a massive series of unanswered punches that left Braehmer nearly out on his feet and opened up a huge gash over Braehmer's right eye.  If the fight was on Sukhotsky's home soil rather than Braehmer's, you could pretty much guarantee that there would have been a stoppage in favor of Sukhotsky right there.  Instead, Braehmer was eventally able to grab a hold of Sukhotsky, and he got a much needed breather when the doctor checked on the awful cut. 

For the rest of the way, the two battled it out with some toe to toe action.  Sukhotsky knew he was down on the cards and needed the knockout, so he kept targeting Braehmer's cut.  Braehmer knew he would lose if the fight was stopped due to the cut, so he kept naining Sukhotsky with hooks to keep him from aggrevating the injury.  In the end, Braehmer was able to stay on his feet and keep the cut from stopping the fight, and walked out of the ring with the victory.

No word on what's next for Braehmer, but as he's wildly popular in Germany and is only a good but not great fighter, expect Universum to keep feeding him easy defenses for as long as they can get away with it.  As for the previously untested Sukhotsky, the fight proved that be belongs on the world stage, even if he may not have the talent to be an elite fighter.