Abraham/Smith II: This time Smith knows he can win

02/21/2015 Ryan Forde-Kelly

photo by S. Heger – Paul Smith, 35-4 (20KO’s), travels back across enemy lines tonight when he faces WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, 41-4 (28KO’s), in Berlin.

It’s been 6 months since the absorbing first bout was marred by some confusing scorecards and in the case of Fernando Laguna’s 119-109 sheet – comical. But, the right decision has been arrived upon and the challenger aims to take full advantage.

“I always thought that this rematch would come. I would be lying if I didn’t think that it might not come off for one reason or another, the only doubt I had really was that he wouldn’t want the fight as he knows that he was in a hard and close fight.

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Abraham vs Smith: Weigh-In Video

02/20/201502/20/2015 Wasserman Boxing

Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) and Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) both made weight today ahead of their WBO World Super Middleweight Championship rematch on Saturday night at the O2 World in Berlin, Germany. The fighters took to the scales in front of raucous crowd of close to thousand German and British fans at the capital’s famous Berlin Mall.

Full list of weights below:

WBO World Super Middleweight Championship:
Arthur Abraham: 76.1 kg
Paul Smith: 75.1 kg

Heavyweight – 10 Rounds:
David Price: 114.8 kg
Irineu Beato Costa Junior: 119.5 kg

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Smith: I have improved since first fight – Abraham has not

02/19/201502/19/2015 Matchroom Boxing

Paul Smith says that the confidence from his first clash with Arthur Abraham and the improvements in the gym means he will be taking the WBO World Super Middleweight title back to Liverpool after the pair rematch on Saturday at O2 World in Berlin, live on Sky Sports. Smith pushed Abraham to the limit when the pair met for the Armenian-German’s belt in September in Kiel, where the champion held onto his belt but controversy reigned over the wide-margins in the scoring after such a close contest.

The Liverpool favourite landed the rematch he craved in December and has been working tirelessly in the gym with trainer Joe Gallagher to build upon the confidence from their first meeting and perfect a plan to leave the result in no doubt. Smith feels primed to rip the title from a champion that he respects, but does not believe can offer anything more than he did in their first meeting.

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Paul Smith to get a big fight if he wins on February 21st

02/12/201502/11/2015 James Sexton

If Paul Smith can become the WBO world champion in his fight against Arthur Abraham he is promised a huge fight. Who that would be is unsure but Eddie Hearn has tossed around names such as James DeGale, George Groves or Carl Froch even. Whether any of these type of fights will come off remains to be seen but first of all Smith has to pull the Abraham victory out of the bag.

In the first fight I had Smith losing to Abraham but the scores must have been closer than the ones the judges has on the night. 111-117 twice and 109-119, were the final scores and the moment they were announced there was outrage amongst the Smith fans.

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Paul Smith feels confident Arthur Abraham will give him a rematch

10/01/201409/29/2014 Bill Phanco

Britain’s Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) says that WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) gave him a handshake when he asked him at the post-fight press conference if he’ll agree to give him an immediate rematch. Smith, 31, interpreted the handshake from Abraham to mean that he’ll get his badly needed rematch with the 34-year-old German based champion.

Last Saturday night, Smith lost a 12 round unanimous decision to Abraham by the scores of 117-111, 117-110 and 119-109. Many people who saw the fight felt that Abraham did enough to get the victory. Some fans felt that it should have been a draw while a smaller minority felt that Smith won the fight. However, because of the scores being so wide, Smith and his promoter Eddie Hearn feel that a rematch is warranted.

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Abraham vs Smith: ‘That’s What Happens In Germany’

10/01/201409/29/2014 Ryan Forde-Kelly

First of all, congratulations to Paul Smith who delivered a career best performance, which he promised, on the night when it mattered the most. A monumental effort behind enemy lines, which was appreciated by every set of fully functioning eyeballs which had the joy of tuning in for what was a tremendous fight.

Isn’t it such a shame that we find ourselves on familiar ground once again, marveling at inconceivable ineptitude that points to the darker side of boxing, which has soiled its name for far too long.

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Hearn pushing WBO to force Paul Smith – Arthur Abraham rematch

09/29/201409/28/2014 Jeff Sorby

Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn plans on appealing to the WBO to see if they can make his beaten fighter Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) the WBO 168lb mandatory challenger to WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs), who beat him by a 12 round unanimous decision last night Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Hearn’s beef was that the scoring was too wide in Abraham’s favor in a fight that appeared to be a lot closer than the scores given by the three judges. Hearn was especially upset about one judge scoring the fight 119-109. Hearn thought that score came out of left field. Interestingly enough, Hearn says that the fight could have gone Abraham’s way by a round or so, but he’s upset about the wide scores.

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Abraham retains WBO title with unanimous points decision

09/28/201409/28/2014 Wasserman Boxing

Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) retained his WBO World Super Middleweight crown with a unanimous points decision against Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) in Kiel, Germany. After twelve rounds of non-stop action in front of a sell-out crowd at the Sparkassen-Arena the judges scored the fight 117-111, 117-111 and 119-109 in favour of the defending champion.

‘’It was a tough fight,’’ said Abraham. ‘’Paul Smith was by no means an easy opponent and he made me work hard for the win. I was pleased with my performance. I feel that I have proved to myself, to my coach Ulli Wegner and to my fans that I still have what it takes. I’m not in decline and I look forward to more successful defences of my WBO title.’’

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Abraham defeats Smith; Macklin decisions Yebes

09/28/201409/27/2014 Bill Phanco

Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) fought the fight of his life on Saturday night in losing a 12 round unanimous decision to WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) by a set of scores that were far too wide at the Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Smith deserved a victory or at least a draw out of the fight because he was the one making the fight in many of the rounds. The judges scored the fight 117-111, 117-111 and 118-109

Abraham uncharacteristically went on the attack mode early in the fight in taking the fight to Smith. But after several rounds, Abraham slowed way down and spent much of each round covering up behind his high guard while Smith carefully landed shots to his head and body.

Abraham did a good job in throwing powerful jabs that frequently caught Smith while he was in punching range. But Smith was the one landing many of the cleaner shots. By the 8th, Smith appeared to be in control of the fight. Abraham was taking rounds off and letting Smith control the fight.

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Abraham vs Smith: Smith’s Crowning Moment?

09/28/201409/27/2014 Ryan Forde-Kelly

On the morning of the Merseyside Derby, you would be forgiven for the thinking that an Everton away victory would be the rarest of occurrences, having not won since 1999, in this sports crazy city.

You’d be wrong.

Not since Paul Hodgkinson’s reign as WBC Featherweight Champion, between 1991-1993, has Liverpool been the home to a legitimate world champion. So, when Paul Smith faces Arthur Abraham (40-4 28KO’s) for the WBO Super-Middleweight World Title in Kiel, Germany this evening, he will aim to redress the balance and return with a title this city has been missing for far too long.

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