by James Slater: Last night in France, unbeaten 26 year old light-middleweight Alexander Abraham, the younger brother of reigning IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, won a unanimous eight round decision over 28 year old Frenchman Mehdi Azri. With his big brother there to support him, Abraham improved his record to 20-0-1(14). It has to be said, however, that he did not look overly impressive – despite winning by scores of 78-74 on all cards.
Fighting an opponent who was having his first bout since October of 2006, Abraham had his hands full pretty much all night. Looking somewhat slow and ponderous, the younger brother of the far more accomplished Arthur Abraham was a big disappointment. Seeing him fight for the very first time, this writer was surprised at how very ordinary he looked. After having had 20 pro fights, Abraham figured to be much more polished than he actually is. He won quite clearly in the eyes of the judges, but Azri succeeded in both frustrating Abraham and making him look ordinary.
With an awkward style that involved a lot of skittish movement followed by a clinch, the Frenchman managed to win his share of points. Flicking out some fast, almost powerless punches, Azri was buzzing around enough to win a few rounds on my card. Abraham simply was not doing enough work in the first three rounds or so, and was looking far from happy as he was having trouble coping with the slightly older man’s ungainly, yet effective style.
Never appearing to really hurt his man, a number of good body shots aside, Abraham was mostly content to merely follow Azri around the ring in the early going, loading up with the right hand as he did so. Abraham himself was never hurt, however, and finally began to get to Azri as the fight wore on. Looking open-mouthed and tired, the Frenchman’s output all but vanished in the last two rounds. In the final round Abraham, sensing he was ahead on the cards, got up on his toes and boxed and moved, using his left jab as he coasted home.
The win was a clear one according to the judges, but Abraham showed he is far from the finished article yet, even at domestic level. The beaten Azri fell to 12-5(2).
Possibly more interesting than the fight itself was the short interview IBF king Arthur Abraham gave from the ringside. Asked if he prefers boxing himself as opposed to watching his brother, Abraham replied in the positive:
“I can’t speak English so good,” Arthur explained first. ” [But] it’s better for me to box. I don’t like to see my brother box.”
Arthur was then asked about his upcoming rematch with Edison Miranda.
“I will be having this fight in Hollywood, USA on June 21st,” the German confirmed. “I am good, I have been training every day and I am healthy. I really want this win.”
Abraham-Miranda II should be some fight to see!