Sean Monaghan forces Matt Vanda back in their 2014 fight. Photo: Elsa/Getty Images.

Long Island light heavyweight Sean Monaghan called the decision by Juergen Braehmer to fight replacement Eduard Gutknecht on March 12 for a secondary light heavyweight title instead of him “a joke.”

Gutknecht (29-3-1, 12 knockouts) was selected to face his fellow German resident in Neubrandenburg, Germany after Thomas Oosthuizen withdrew for personal reasons.

Monaghan (26-0, 16 KOs) was also under consideration to face Braehmer, ranked No. 5 in The RING’s light heavyweight rankings.

But he was taken aback by the selection of Gutknecht, who already lost a decision to Braehmer in 2013 and isn’t ranked in the top 15 of the WBA’s most recent light heavyweight rankings even though the sanctioning body is overseeing the fight.

Monaghan was also critical of Braehmer (47-2, 35 KOs) fighting six straight times in Germany after capturing the secondary title.

“It’s not a fight the fans are dying to see,” Monaghan told RingTV.com on Monday. “It’s not a fight a world champion is going to prove he’s the best. It’s a joke. You got a guy who hijacked (a title) and took it to Germany and won’t leave. He went way down the list. He got some guy he already beat. It’s crazy. That’s a shocking thing to be allowed for a world champion to fight a guy of that caliber. That’s pretty bad.”

Monaghan is now scheduled to fight on the undercard of Terence Crawford-Hank Lundy at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 27 against an opponent who is still being determined.

But that was of no consolation to Monaghan on Saturday when he got the news after a workout.

The mild-mannered Monaghan nearly blew a gasket.

“He didn’t have to fight me and he chose not,” Monaghan went on. “I was just hoping he would have picked someone a little bit better than the guy he picked. If he would have picked (former light heavyweight titlist Nathan) Cleverly over me or someone like that it would be understandable. But to fight this guy. He already beat this guy. It’s pretty sad for the boxing fans.”

Monaghan is also frustrated with the perception that he’s a protected fighter. Unfortunately, that sentiment will continue to linger after the latest setback.

“I want to be taken seriously as a fighter,” Monaghan said. “I’m tired of people calling me out on Twitter, saying I don’t fight anyone. ‘You’re scared of this guy and you’re scared of that guy.’ Trust me, if anyone knows anything about me I’m not scared of anybody. I’d love to fight (RING-rated No. 1 light heavyweight Sergey) Kovalev. I’d love to fight (amateur rival) Joe Smith Jr. I’d love to fight any big challenge out there. I would love to do it. But I feel like I’m handcuffed here.”

Mitch Abramson can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter at @Mabramson13

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