I looked at the footage again and read the post fight interviews, I just get this gut feeling Braemer quit because he was being overwhelmed by Clev, there was no injury: 1. Braemer: "I will now go to a doctor who is a friend of mine and get this examined". A professional athlete who is seriously injured would fly to Munich or Hamburg to the most elite sports universities and get a real injury checked out. You don't go to a buddy of yours in the next village who also happens to be a doctor. 2. Braehmers trainer Conny Mittermayer: "This was a big surprise to all of us in the corner, we didn't see any indication of him being unable to punch" 3. Braemers promoter Kalle Sauerland didn't mention any planned treatment or operation in the post fight interview. But they already know the rematch date (February). If Braemer was injured, wouldn't they have to wait a couple days to get a specialist doctor to estimate the recovery time? Pretty disgraceful. I thought Braehmer was a tough guy who'd never quit, he was ahead on the cards. Congrats to Clev he mentally broke down the German with his swarming attacks.
I kind of figured that would happen after he fought so negatively in the Gutknecht match, he looked horrible and clinch for the majority of the last 4 or 5 rounds, he hadn't gone the distance in a while and his body clearly didn't react very well to it, so he knew what he was in for with Clev, because like Gutknecht... Clev wasn't going away either and he wasn't going to stop throwing, so Braehmer instead of digging deep for another relentless grueling 6 rounds just gave up like a punk.
i always taught cleverly was the hair to calzaghe's throne, but he never quiet made it but they have many similarities, a huge work rate and they never stop throwing shots, your in for a hard night against cleverly no matter what
I really find this hard to believe. I thought that Braehmer did not receive that much punishment. Cleverly threw a lot of punches, but those seemed to be powerless. If he really quit, it's a shame, because thet guy has been in jail and came back really strong from that and doesn't seem like a quitter to me.
What a weird one. Looked like Braehmer was winning. He was landing as often as Cleverly, but landing better shots to Cleverly's arm punches. The commentators kept saying that Braehmer the old man would wilt under the pressure and Cleverly the younger man would have better stamina in the latter half of the fight, but it didn't look that way to me. Braehmer looked at least as fresh when they stopped. I was confused. Braehmer wasn't struggling, wasn't rocked, wasn't down, wasn't winded, wasn't favoring any body parts. Did he break his hand? I never did hear why exactly he quit. He wasn't bleeding, or stumbling. He got up and walked across the ring to congratulate Cleverly and his corner. I don't get it. He's a veteran of 50 fights and has gone twelve rounds a number of times. I don't think he was afraid of that. I'm just so used to seeing people fight through the pain and persevere that it's always surprising to see a man not want to go on. It makes sense if your arm is dislocated or one of your legs is broken, but I've seen people bleeding out of both eyes with broken hands and ribs come storming out to take the fight to their opponents. Injuries are just supposed to come with the job and half of the job is being able to fight through pain. Meh.
1. How do you know if he even needs a specialist, were you able to diagnose his exact problem based on the footage we saw? How do you know his mate isn't the best in his field? I'm sure plenty of doctors could treat an injury like a dislocated elbow without the need for s specialist. 2. He was able to punch but it's pretty clear his work rate in the 5th dropped. I said in the RBR that it looked like he might be gassing because his wasn't throwing as much. So at the time it may not seem like he was injured and simply gassing or more likely taking a round off, but with hindsight the drop in work rate suggests the injury was the more likely reason for a drop in work rate. 3. Of course his promoter didn't mention need for an operation, he isn't a doctor how is he supposed to know if he requires surgery or not or what treatment he should receive. Also if he did dislocate his elbow as suggested, no surgery would be needed. So this point of yours adds no credence to the idea Braehmer quit.
I don't think Brähmer is a quitter for no reason. Look back to the Sukhotsky fight, it showed... Whatever it will be, we will know soon. But it seem that he had to quit for not risking health, even against the super soft Puncher Cleverly.
The guy wants a rematch and is exercising his rematch clause in their contract. If he was scared I doubt he would bother.
Here's an alternative theory: He quit BECAUSE of the rematch clause. He knew he had a rematch no matter watch, the fight was tougher than anticipated. Clevery kept coming and wasn't slowing down. So he quit on his stool because he knew he has another free shot at Cleverly. If he had no rematch clause maybe Braehmer would have sucked it up and tried to last 12 rounds and eek out a points win. He was ahead on points.
Reading this thread it's possible everyone has a point. Differing views on a fight don't have to to be conflicting. I think his motive to quit was a combination of much that has been said. I don't think he faked an injury, he's a seasoned pro of more than 50 fights, so he's dug deep before. But I do feel he was feeling swamped by Clev's relentless work rate and maybe he got old overnight? And in the back of his mind was the knowledge he's got a rematch clause to avenge a defeat. So perhaps he felt some pain in the elbow and was gassing, took into account the volume of punches coming his way with half a fight still to come and took the decision to quit knowing he'll get another shot.
Calzaghe was more than just volume though. He had far better footwork, quicker hands, better upper body movement etc. I was never sold on Cleverly. All I saw was a decent athlete in very good shape but his skills were basic. His balance was good but that was because his feet are too far apart making quite immobile. He had that basic high guard to compensate for his total lack of head and upper body movement. He also fought down as in for such a tall guy with a decent reach he fought like someone several inches shorter, hunching over, giving away his height advantage.
