WBO light heavyweight champion Jurgen Brähmer (36-2, 29 KOs) was forced to pull out of Saturday’s unification clash with WBA champion Beibut Shumenov (10-1, 5 KOs) in Shymkent, Kazakhstan due to an acute gastrointestinal illness. Brähmer and BDB President Thomas Pütz, another member of the five-person German delegation both fell ill. “A few hours after arrival in Shymkent, both came down with severe diarrhea with nausea and severe vomiting which lasted all night,” explained Dr. Michael Ehnert. “This caused severe headaches and abdominal pain. Jürgen was particularly so weakened that he couldn’t train and it’s not possible for him to be able to compete for a world title in a few days. Due to the unclear cause and ambiguous symptoms, it was decided to arrange for an immediate return to Germany this evening to head directly to the hospital after landing for treatment. So far, we have only a vague suspicion of the cause. Jürgen and Thomas Pütz were eating together on Sunday afternoon near the hotel and that evening they complained about the first symptoms, which really hit them on Monday.”

Promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl stated “This is a big catastrophe, we and above all Jürgen are crestfallen. This fight would have written German boxing history. Now we hope that Jürgen and Thomas become healthy as soon as possible.” The team is scheduled to arrive back in Hamburg tomorrow at 9AM.