Abraham faces Bouadla tonight in Germany

Bouadla_AbrahamBy Jeff Sorby: WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (35-3, 27 KO’s) makes a defense of his title tonight against Mehdi Bouadla (26-4, 11 KO’s) at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung, Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Bayern, Germany. This shouldn’t be too tough of a fight for the 32-year-old Abraham because Bouadla, 5’8”, doesn’t have the size, speed, power or the boxing ability to do what other fighters did one after to Abraham in the Super Six tournament in his embarrassing attempt at competing against the best at 168.

Bouadla has very limited size, and he’s about as tall as the average welterweight, but he’s fighting at super middleweight. For Abraham, 5’9”, Bouadla is perhaps the only fighter he’s faced at 168 that he’s got a height advantage over. Not being big is going to create a lot of problems for Bouadla because It’s going to mean that he’ll have to stand and trade with Abraham, and that’s probably not going to go well for Bouadla.

Bouadla got apart last year when he stepped it up a couple levels in terms of competition in his fight with Mikkel Kessler. Bouadla was destroyed in only six rounds by Kessler, who looked like he was toying with him the entire time. It was effortless for Kessler because Bouadla was short and didn’t have the speed or power to make a fight of it.

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Abraham defends WBO 168 lb title against Bouadla on Saturday

Abraham defends WBO 168 lb title against Bouadla on Saturday Photo: Udo Dreier — By Bill Phanco: WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (35-3, 27 KO’s) isn’t taking any chances that he might get beaten in his first title defense of his newly won World Boxing Organization 168 pound title, so he’s dipped down low in the WBO rankings to find Frances’ Mehdi Bouadla (26-4, 11 KO’s) for a nice easy win this Saturday night at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung, Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Bayern, Germany. Abraham considers a strong test, and it’s hard to understand what he’s talking about because Bouadla didn’t look good in getting destroyed last year by Mikkel Kessler in a 6th round knockout defeat.

Abraham must have felt like he was in a meat grinder when he tested his skills against the very best in the super middleweight division in the Super Six tournament. Abraham was beaten left and right by almost every fighter he faced, and when the tournament was over Abraham left licking his wounds and was dismissed by a lot of boxing fans as a finished fighter. However, his promoters have rejuvenated him by matching him against a couple of fringe level contenders and then arguably the weakest of the champions Robert Stieglitz, and presto, Abraham’s career has been turned around.

It’s hard to see it that way, though. It just looks like one paper champion has been switched for another, although Abraham still has talent to give a lot of fighter problems on any given day. It’s just that he doesn’t have the size or the talent to beat the really good fighters at super middleweight.

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Dirrell wants Abraham rematch

Dirrell wants Abraham rematchBy Michael Collins: Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) wants to get a shot at newly crowned WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham’s World Boxing Organization crown to take the title off of him and pay him back for being fouled in their fight in April 2010 in the Super Six tournament. Although Dirrell completely dominated Abraham and won the fight by an 11th round disqualification, Dirrell still wants to get Abraham back in the ring so that he can beat him until the conclusion of the fight.

Dirrell said this on his twitter yesterday after learning about Abraham beating WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz by a 12 round unanimous decision in Berlin, Germany: “I want that WBO [belt], Abraham!!! Scene 2, Ace 2. I’m gonna act out another ass whopping on you…again! Let me get the mandatory for that WBO after my next fight!!! I bet Abraham won’t fight me!!! Haha. I can’t wait!!!”

I also bet Abraham doesn’t fight Dirrell. There’s really no reason for Abraham to take the fight because in terms of important fights that can make him the most money, a fight against Dirrell would have to be low ranking right about now. Abraham can make better money against fighters like Lucian Bute, Mikkel Kessler, Felix Sturm or Carl Froch. Abraham isn’t going to use up an important fight and risk getting beaten again if he’s not going to get the biggest payday.

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Arthur Abraham-Felix Sturm – The Super-Fight For Germany Makes All The Sense In The World

Arthur Abraham-Felix Sturm - The Super-Fight For Germany Makes All The Sense In The WorldBy James Slater – They are both mega-stars in Germany, and reigning world champions Arthur Abraham and Felix Sturm have seemingly been on something of a collision course for years. Now that “King” Arthur is back where he belongs and has done his job against the classy Robert Stieglitz, all that remains for the super-fight to happen is Sturm taking care of his business this coming Saturday.

Sturm, the long-reigning WBA middleweight king, faces IBF champ Daniel Geale, 27-1(15) and if the 33-year-old can come though okay, it would be a natural for him to move up to 168 (Sturm has struggled to make 160 for some time) and get it on with Abraham.

32-year-old Abraham, 35-3(27) now a two-weight ruler, against Sturm, 37-2-2(16), would attract an absolutely monstrous audience in Germany. Simply put, both guys are total legends in their homeland (Abraham being born in Armenia but living in Berlin for a number of years). In separate fights the two stars bring in huge crowds, together the box-office records would likely be smashed.

Both men have enjoyed long, likely Hall of Fame-worthy careers, and the two veterans are closing in on their last few years. What we need to see now is a showdown between the two, to finally find out who is the best. Abraham has those heavy hands and he is rock-solid and tough.

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Abraham with a lot of options for big fights

Abraham with a lot of options for big fightsBy Adrian Soehner: Newly crowned WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (35-3, 27 KO’s) is in a great position right now to get a big money fight against some of the other top super middleweights and champions from other divisions after beating WBO super middleweight champ Robert Stieglitz (42-3, 23 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision earlier on Saturday night at the O2 World Arena in Berlin, Germany. Abraham’s power came through for him to help him win a posts decision by the scores 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113.

Abraham was expected to win going in and he showed why people favored him by punishing Stieglitz all throughout the fight with hard combinations. Abraham has always been heavy-handed since his days as the IBF middleweight champion, but now he seems to be even more powerful now that he’s matured. That doesn’t mean he’s invincible. He’s far from actually. The win proved little other than showing that Abraham can beat the weakest of the super middleweight champions. But it still won’t keep him from getting a good opponent for his next fight later on in the year. However, Abraham is going to have to choice wisely because he may not get a second title defense if he faces someone too good.

The options for Abraham are as follows:

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Abraham defeats Stieglitz in close fight, wins WBO super middleweight title

Abraham defeats Stieglitz in close fight, wins WBO super middleweight titleBy Michael Collins: Arthur Abraham (35-3, 27 KO’s) finally found success at 168 lbs in beating WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (42-3, 23 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision to capture his World Boxing Organization title on Saturday night at the O2 World Arena, Kreuzberg, in Berlin, Germany. Abraham used his power punches, high guard and a lot of pressure to get the better of the volume puncher Stieglitz throughout the fight. Abraham started out slow but really came on from the 4th round until the 9th, fighting effectively with his big power shots and showing some slickness at times.

The judges scored it 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113. There was no question that Abraham was the better man, as he was able to land his power shots tonight and block many of the return punches from Stieglitz. He did, however, tired in the last three rounds, which is normal for him. Luckily, he had a lead built up by then so he didn’t lose too much despite his obvious fatigue problems.

Abraham did a lot of showboating for the Berlin crowd and seemed to be really enjoying himself against Stieglitz. You really can’t blame Abraham because his career was thought to be near over after getting beaten by Carl Froch, Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward in the Super Six tournament. However, Stieglitz didn’t have the same kind of talent as those guys, and it made things a lot easier for Abraham to control the action with his big wind up shots.

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