Boxing: Disease: Brähmer has to cancel semi-final against Smith

Professional boxer Jürgen Brähmer must unintentionally bury his dream of winning the lucrative Muhammad Ali Trophy. The super-middleweight cancelled his semi-final fight against the Englishman Callum Smith in Nuremberg on Saturday because of a serious virus infection. Due to the tight schedule of the multi-million boxing tournament, it is not possible to postpone the fight.

“Unfortunately, a struggle in this Constitution is unthinkable. It’s not possible for me to get into the ring like this. I’d like to apologize to the fans,”said the 39-year-old Schwerin:”I had prepared well and was looking forward to the duel against Callum.”

The Dutchman Nieky Holzken climbs into the ring in Nuremberg as Brähmer’s replacement against the unbeaten Smith. Both fight for their place in the final against World Champion George Groves (England).

The winner of the Ali-Trophy, which comes with a prize money of 50 million US dollars, can look forward to a rich prize money. In Brähmer, the last remaining German boxer left the competition.