Jürgen Bräehmer v.s. Librado Andrade Ornelas
Jürgen Bräehmer is far from being a household name. But in the light heavyweight division of boxing this WBO champ isn't quite an unknown. On 18 December in Montreal, Librado Andrade is going to attempt to take his title.
Many have talked about the possibility of this match never happening. They’ve cited that Bräehmer has legal troubles and may not be allowed to cross the Pacific. Others claim that his legal troubles aside, Braehmer’s team would not allow him to face off against the brick wall of speed and stealth that is Andrade. All this is speculation, but it's worth taking a look at the fight in the case it does indeed go down.
In the first 27 fights of his pro career, Bräehmer won them all. As an amateur he won the Junior World Championships in Havana in 1996 and that same year he beat Ricky Hatton twice. So perhaps it's no surprise that on 22 August, 2009 Bräehmer knocked out Aleksy Kuziemski in order to become interim light heavyweight champion of the WBO. It wasn’t until 13 November of 2009 that Bräehmer became the official WBO light heavyweight world champion. The problem is he didn’t even get the title through a fight, he won it by default when his predecessor Zsolt Erdei relinquished his tittle in order to move up to a different weight class, cruiserweight. In December of that year Bräehmer defended his title in a match against Dmitry Sukhotsky, a match which he won.
For all his accomplishments Bräehmer's talent is still always being called into question and he isn’t getting any younger, but despite his age this 31-year-old German is showing very few signs of slowing down.
Ornelas is the exact same age, and this Mexican boxer has something to prove. With his reach, 200cm long, Braehmer will need lots of speed and ducking ability to avoid getting clipped. Andrade is a very different fighter from Bräehmer.
What he’s got going for him is his endurance and tenacity. In October of 2008 Ornelas fought Lucian Bute for the IBF championship fight. Bute’s strategy was complex, his knowledge of the sport and technical prowess superseded Andrade’s and by the time the fourth round bell sang, there was very little hope for Andrade. Bute dominated the entire match all the way until the 12th round.
It was then that Andrade’s true strategy, his true grit, was finally revealed. It was then that Andrade unleashed a series of killer combinations which rendered Bute inches away from unconsciousness. It was a powerful right hand with two seconds left that brought Bute down to the mat.
Unfortunately the victory was not given to Andrade. The referee claimed that Andrade was not standing in a neutral corner during the count he warned him and this gave Bute just the right amount of time he needed to slowly rise back up to his feet. The referee even declared that Bute would not have beaten the count under different circumstances, the decision was a controversial one, but the always surprising Andrade didn’t even bat an eyelash. He is quoted as saying: “If this is the way to lose a fight, then this is the say I want to lose. I know I won the fight because I came with the intent to knock him out and I did." Andrade won 7 of his last 10 bouts, he is a force to be reckoned with and he is looking for an opportunity to show the world he’s got what it takes.
If Bräehmer is allowed to fight Ornelas on December in Montreal, it’ll be a great fight. Both are tough warriors with a good knowledge of the sweet sciences fundamentals. Bräehmer has more to lose, and less to prove whereas Ornelas has the stamina of a pack of huskies and the power to go with it.
If this fight goes down, Ornelas is the man to pick.
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