By: Bryant Romero
This Saturday in Nuremberg, Germany, the World Boxing Super Series returns for the second super middleweight semifinal with Callum Smith(23-0, 17 KOs) taking on late replacement Nieky Holzken (13-0, 10 KOs). The winner will advance to the finals of the tournament for the right to challenge WBA super middleweight champion George Groves, who is fresh off his unanimous decision win over Chris Eubank Jr. Smith was originally scheduled to fight veteran German Jurgen Braehmer (49-3, 35 KOs) who was forced to pull out earlier this week due to an infection, which made it impossible for Braehmer to compete fully fit for this Saturday.
Photo Credit: World Boxing Super Series
Smith will now be opposite of the ring of a very confident but unknown challenger in Nieky Holzken who has vowed to the boxing press that he is here to “take over the world boxing super series.” Holzken is a former world champion kick boxer with over 100 fights under his belt as a kick boxer. The Dutchman turned professional as boxer in 2013 and he is coming off an impressive second-round knockout of Viktor Polyakov just three weeks ago. The unbeaten Dutchman had originally been scheduled to face Dmitry Chudinov on the undercard, but will now get the opportunity in what will be seen as a major upset if he can beat the undefeated Callum Smith and advance to the finals of WBSS tournament.
Callum Smith is the number one contender for the WBC title at super middleweight and was on the verge of title shot before deciding to enter the tournament. He signed an agreement to face American Anthony Dirrell for the vacant WBC world title in America for which never occurred. The unbeaten Brit now finds himself in the semifinals of the WBSS tournament and is one win away from a very lucrative showdown and first world title opportunity against George Groves.
The decision to enter the tournament was the smart business move for Callum Smith, but now he finds himself in a tricky situation in dealing with the pullout of his original opponent in Braehmer and having to quickly adjust to a late replacement in Holzken who brings a much different style and fights from the orthodox stance.
The change in opponent, fighting away from home in Germany, the confidence that Holzken is displaying, and the fact that Smith knows nothing about his new opponent could be a recipe of a much more difficult night than expected at the office for Callum Smith. The bookies don’t give the Ducthman a prayer to win the fight, but stranger things have happen in boxing and perhaps we could be in for an interesting fight in this Callum Smith vs Nieky Holzken semifinal showdown.