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.

continue

Kalle Sauerland open to Abraham-Smith rematch if the money is right

09/28/201409/28/2014 T.Baker

If Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in getting a rematch for his fighter Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) against WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) then Hearn will need to open up his pocketbook and come up with a lot of cash because Abraham’s promoter Kalle Sauerland says he’s only going to let Abraham fight Smith again if the interest is there and the money is good enough.

Hearn will need to dig real deep for cash if he wants to have Abraham travel to Liverpool to fight Smith at home in the UK. Sauerland doesn’t want to put his fighter at a disadvantage unless it’s a substantial offer from Hearn. Abraham has a large following in Germany, so there’s really no point in him traveling to Liverpool to fight Smith, a fighter he just defeated by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night in Germany.

continue

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.’’

continue

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.

continue

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.

continue

Paul Smith: This is my first and last chance to win a world title

09/27/201409/26/2014 Jeff Sorby

Paul Smith (35-3, 20 KOs) will be fighting for a world title for the first time in his 11-year pro career this Saturday night against WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (40-4, 28 KOs) at the Sparkassen-Arena in Kiel, Germany.

Smith, 31, has definitely picked out the weak link among the super middleweight champions because Abraham has already been proven to not be in the league of Carl Froch and Andre Ward. WBC champion Anthony Dirrell would likely be too much for Abraham as well. But Smith doesn’t have that kind of talent, so he’s going to need to use his intelligence to try and outbox Abraham rather than wasting time trying to put a dent in his sturdy chin.

continue

Hearn: Paul Smith is getting Arthur Abraham at the perfect time

08/23/201408/22/2014 T.Baker

After 10 years as a pro, Britain’s Paul Smith (35-3, 20 KOs) will finally be getting a world title shot against WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (40-4, 28 KOs) on September 27th in Germany.

Whether Smith actually deserves the title shot is debatable, as he’s won four fights against soft opposition since his 2nd round knockout loss to George Groves in 2011. On paper, the 31-year-old Smith doesn’t have much of a chance of winning, because he’s lost each time he’s tried to take a step up during his career in defeats against Groves and James DeGale.

continue

Abraham defeats Sjekloca with one arm

05/04/201405/03/2014 Vladimir S

Fighting with just his left hand, WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (40-4, 28 KO’s) successfully defended his WBO 168lb title with a 12 round unanimous decision win tonight against an over-matched and terribly limited 35-year-old #12 WBO Nikola Sjekloca (26-2, 8 KO’s) at The Velodrom, Prenzlauer Berg, in Berlin, Germany.

The final judges’ scores were 116-113, 116-112, and 119-110 for Abraham. Sjekloca fought well enough to lose by a 116-113 score, but definitely not 119-110. That was way too wide of a score for the fight that took place tonight.

continue

Abraham faces Sjekloca tonight

05/03/201405/02/2014 Vladimir S

(Credit: Thomas Goos / Team Sjekloca) WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (39-4, 28 KO’s) will be making an optional title defense tonight against #12 WBO Nikola Sjekloca (26-1, 8 KO’s) in what hopes to be an entertaining fight at The Velodrom, Prenzlauer Berg, in Berlin, Germany. It’s not a particularly interesting fight because Sjekloca has little to no power to speak of, and he’s only fought one good opponent during his career in Sakio Bika, who beat him soundly.

Abraham recently won back his WBO title with a victory over Robert Stieglitz last March, and now Abraham is taking an optional title defense before he faces Stieglitz likely for a fourth time in either late 2014 or sometime next year. Stieglitz needs to win at least one of two fights before he can get a fourth fight against Abraham, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to be asked by the WBO to fight his way to another shot at the title.

continue

Abraham defeats Stieglitz

03/02/201403/01/2014 Vladimir S

WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (46-4, 26 KO’s) failed to pace himself tonight in running out of gas in the 2nd part of his rubber match against Arthur Abraham (39-4, 28 KO’s) in losing a 12 round split decision at the GETEC Arena, Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. Stieglitz unloaded everything but the kitchen sink on Abraham in the first four rounds of action going for broke to get a stoppage. But when Abraham was still there after the 4th round, Stieglitz had no answers in what to do to try and win the fight.

Abraham knocked Stieglitz down in the 12th round. Before the knockdown, Stieglitz had been wobbled from a right hand from Abraham. It looked like for a second there that he might make it out of the round without going down, but Stieglitz took another big shot and that caused him to hit the canvas.

continue