By Per Ake Persson: June 27, Berlin, Germany: IBF middleweight champ Arthur Abraham stopped brave but outgunned challenger Mahir Oral in the tenth round after scoring three knockdowns in the round with a devastating attack to the body. Referee Earl Brown waved them on again but Oral´s corner retired their man. Oral was down in the fourth and sixth rounds – and a knockdown should have been ruled in the fifth as well. After nine rounds the champ was ahead by scores 86-83 twice and 88-81. Abraham lost the first three and the seventh on two cards.. Oral had good handspeed and showed a lot of guts landing with good counters that forced King Arthur to cover up. However, “Lion” Oral just didn´t have the strength or punch to withstand Abraham for long.
The question is now if Abraham can stay at middleweight and perhaps fight Kelly Pavlik or move up to supermiddle.
Cruiserweight prospect Alexander Frenkel stopped Rodolfo De Dominicis in three dominant and brutal rounds. Frenkel floored De Dominicis twice in the second round and the end came in the third when the corner of the Argentinean threw in the towel.
Lightheavy Dustin Dirks closed out the long show with a right uppercut that took out Albanian Orial Kolaj in the second. Referee Daniel Van De Wiele waved the fight off without a count.
IBF Int´l middleweight champ Sebastian Sylvester outscored Lajuan Simon over twelve rounds to retain the title on scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 117-111. There were no knockdowns and little drama as Sylvester was just a little too sharp for Simon scoring with jabs and one-two combinations.
IBF I/C cruiser king Enad Licina beat Mexican Ignacio Esparza clearly but it was a dull fight fought at a very slow pace and Licina failed to impress. It was scored 117-111 twice and 116-112.
EU welter ruler Leonard Bundu outscored Frank Shabani on scores of 116-113, 115-113 and 116-112. Shabani seemed at loss of what to do when Bundu switched to a southpaw stance and that cost him the fight.
Heavyweight Oleg Platov returned after a long layoff and outscored Russian Daniil Peretyatko over eight. Peretyatko fights anyone, anywhere and normally come out allright but took a beating in the last two rounds.
Argentinian cruiser Juan Manuel Garay upset previously unbeaten German Martin Kempf and stopped him in the fourth after scoring two knockdowns.
The next Sauerland Event show takes place August 29 in Halle / Westfalen with Marco Huck challenging WBO cruiser champ Victor Emilio Rodriguez and EBU supermiddle champ Karo Murat defending the title against Lorenzo Di Giacomo.