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The opening round of the World Boxing Super Series came to a close on Friday in Schwerin, Germany, where Jürgen Brähmer outpointed previously unbeaten American Rob Brant to advance to the super middleweight quarterfinal.
Brähmer (49-3, 35 KO) won on scores of 116-112, 118-110, and 119-109. Brant fell to 22-1 (15 KO) with the loss.
The 39-year-old Brähmer was fighting at super middleweight for the first time since 2007, after a decade-long run as a light heavyweight. Brant, 27, was moving up from middleweight for the opportunity. Brähmer’s conditioning was a concern coming in, but he looked sharp and was able to outbox his younger, less experienced opponent.
It was a dominant performance from the German veteran, who now moves on to face Callum Smith (23-0, 17 KO) in the semifinal round in early 2018. Smith got past Erik Skoglund in his quarterfinal matchup on September 16. The other WBSS super middlweight semifinal will pit George Groves against Chris Eubank Jr.