By Alexey Sukachev

With its prospects being reduced in number and with its sight focused on the upcoming World Boxing Super Series, Sauerland Event is presently limited to less sound and eye-shaking cards than in the past.

Still, events keep flowing, and the latest one took place on Saturday night at Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Ludwigshaven, Germany.

The card was crowned with two female title fights. In the main event, long-reigning (actually, one of the longest reigning female world champions) WBO super featherweight titlist Ramona Kuehne (26-1, 10 KOs) retained her belt for the eighth time over seven years with a points win over Belgian former EBU featherweight champion Djemila “The Pitbull” Gontaruk (13-4-1, 2 KOs). The fight was scheduled for ten but the belt was at stake for Kuehne only, as Djemila came one pound over the limit.

One weight class above, Austrian Nicole Wesner (13-0, 6 KOs) retained her World Boxing Federation, Global Boxing Union and Women’s International Boxing Association lightweight titles with a wide unanimous decision over Bosnian kayo artist Hasna Tukic (9-4, 8 KOs). It was a virtual shutout for the champion, who was also deducted one point in the fight. Scores were: 99-90, 98-91, and 98-91 – for Wesner.

18-year old German Leon Bauer (12-0, 8 KOs) was forced to work through hell in order to retain his IBF Youth super middleweight title for the second time against dangerous Tanzanian import Abdullah Paziwapazi (17-6, 16 KOs). Paziwapazi started huge, rocking Bauer several times in the first couple of rounds. Bauer got better in the midst of the fight and used his boxing skills to keep the African honest.

However, in the eighth Bauer was dropped and in danger again. He was forced to work extra hard not only to get it to the final bell but also win the fight. Final scores were identical: 96-92 x3 – for Bauer.

In a battle between two German cruiserweight prospects of foreign origin, Artur Mann (11-0, 7 KOs) barely decisioned Leon Harth (15-3, 11 KOs) over ten with a majority decision. Mann, originally of Aktyubinsk, Kazakhstan, got it with narrow scores: 95-95, 96-94, and 97-93. He is now a holder of WBO International cruiserweight title. Harth, who pushed WBSS future participant and former two-time world champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk to the limits in December 2016 (dropping a close decision 112-116, 112-116 and 113-115), is from Armawir, Armenia.

Danish cruiserweight Micki Nielsen (23-1, 14 KOs) got back to the winning column for the first time since dropping a decision to Kevin Llerena in the RSA in October 2016, getting a points win over 40-year old French veteran Simon Bakalak (8-7, 3 KOs).

Light heavyweight Kosovo native Arijan Sherifi (16-1, 8 KOs) forced 43-year old Georgian veteran Gary Abajian into the zero-zone with a decision over six rounds. Abajian is now 34-34-1, 18 KOs, with just four stoppage losses throughout his boxing career.

Other results:

Ahmad Ali (7-0-1, 5 KOs) TKO 2 Sinisa Gambelic (3-2, 2 KOs)

Alexander Peil (9-0, 5 KOs) TKO 3 Mikheil Khutsishvili (43-34-6, 24 KOs)

Alexandru Gabroveanu (8-0, 7 KOs) TKO 3 Davit Gogishvili (18-7, 10 KOs)

Marko Radonjic (2-0, 2 KOs) TKO 1 Mladen Malasevic (0-2)