Abraham hurt Stieglitz with an overhand right in the opening seconds of the 6th. Stieglitz continued to press forward despite being hurt. Abraham followed up with some clubbing shots that ended with him blasting Stieglitz with a right to the head that send him down. Stieglitz got to his feet but his corner waived the towel to referee Earl Brown to have the bout stopped.
Arthur Abraham (42-4, 28 KOs) and Robert Stieglitz (47-4-1, 27 KOs) both made weight today ahead of their fourth WBO World Super Middleweight Championship contest tomorrow night at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany.
WBO World Super Middleweight Championship:
Arthur Abraham: 76 kg
Robert Stieglitz: 75.9 kg
The star-studded show in Halle also features 17 year-old German knockout specialist Vincent Feigenbutz (19-1, 18 KOs) who faces Mauricio Reynoso (15-1-1, 11 KOs) for the Interim WBA World Super Middleweight title, and the return of London 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist Anthony Ogogo (7-0, 4 KOs) against Ruslan Schelev (11-3, 6 KOs).
Smith came back later and had a good round in the 6th after hurting Abraham with a beautiful left to the body. But instead of continuing to go to the body in the remainder of the fight, Smith wasted his efforts in throwing shots into the high guard of Abraham. Those shots were blocked, and this enabled Abraham to dominate from the 7th round. The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 117-111, and 117-111.
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.
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
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.
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.
Next month’s clash between former two time World Boxing Organization super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (47-4, 27 KOs) and former IBF/WBA middleweight title holder Felix Sturm (39-4-2, 18 KOs) on November 8th will determine which of these two fighters will be getting a world title shot against WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) in 2015.
Abraham will likely be fighting a needless rematch against British fighter Paul Smith next to clear up the controversy surrounding their fight last September in Germany. Abraham won that fight by a 12 round unanimous decision, but Smith and many of his boxing fans felt that he’d done enough to deserve a win or a draw. Having seen the same fight, I don’t think Smith did nearly enough to get a win in that fight.
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.
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.