Boxing: Abraham clinches WBO crown

Abraham lived up to his ‘King Arthur’ moniker, now has a record of 27 knock-outs in 35 wins and three defeats.

BERLIN: Germany’s Arthur Abraham was crowned the new World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight champion after his unanimous win over compatriot Robert Stieglitz. Abraham, 32, who defended his IBF middleweight title 10 times between 2005 and 2009, is now the world champion at the heavier weight after the judges scored the fight 116-112, 116-112, 115-113. “I trained hard for this and I had to box cleverly against such a good champion,” said Abraham.  Having held the title for three years, Stieglitz was well beaten with heavy bruising and cuts around both eyes at the end of the punishing title bout, while Abraham was left relatively unmarked. Abraham lived up to his ‘King Arthur’ moniker and the new champion now has a record of 27 knock-outs in 35 wins and three defeats.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2012.