Fallen Abraham ready to prove himself in Berlin
Fallen ex-world champion Arthur Abraham has said he will prove he still has a career in boxing by defeating current WBO super-middleweight title-holder Robert Stieglitz on Saturday.
Abraham, the former IBF middleweight champion, has lost three of his last six fights since moving up a weight category to compete in the Super Six super-middleweight tournament, where he lost three of his four bouts.
A disqualification against Andre Dirrell of the United States — the first loss of his career — then a points defeat to Britain’s Carl Froch in 2010 came before his unanimous defeat to Andre Ward in May 2011 left his Super Six hopes in tatters.
Since then, the 32-year-old Abraham has defended the WBO European super-middleweight title he won in January and now faces compatriot Stieglitz in Berlin for the World BoxingOrganisation title.
“For me, every fight is a last chance but I am not going to make any bold statements,” said Abraham at a news conference on Wednesday.
“I will defeat him in the ring and then everything will be ok. I’ll prove it all.”
After his three Super Six defeats, Abraham laboured during his last fight when he defended the European title against Poland’s Piotr Wilczewski in March.
His promoter Kalle Sauerland has made it clear it will be hard to get him another shot at the world title, should he lose on Saturday.
Germany’s WBA super-middleweight and IBF middleweight title-holder Felix Sturm has said he will fight the winner of Saturday’s bout and Abraham has a loyal fan base here having beaten Edison Miranda in 2006 with a broken jaw.
Having defended his title seven times since winning it in 2009, Russian-born Stieglitz, 31, said he is ready.
“I feel relaxed, fit and physically as good as ever,” said the 31-year-old.
“What happens to Arthur in the future does not interest me, I will beat him.”
The fight promises to be balanced: Stieglitz has excellent technique, while Abraham has a notoriously hard punch.
“He has a phenomenal punch. I’m very curious to see how Stieglitz will respond to the first hard hit,” said Abraham’s coach Uli Wegner.
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