The Boxing Historian
Feb 12 2011
Arthur Abraham wins second round stoppage due to injury
Written by Christoph Eichel Saturday, 12 February 2011 22:15
(Germany Ringside) After two back to back defeats in the shotwime
super six boxing classics former middleweight champion Arthur Abraham
was granted permission to compete in what was a planned confidence
builder, before his semi-final fight with tournament favourite and
undefeated American; Andre Ward.
Such is the popularity of the Armenian born Arthur Abraham; tonight in
his adopted Germany he was the main event, relegating more competitive
fights and even world title fights onto the undercard.
Abraham’s opponent 36-year-old Croatian Stjepan Bozic (24-4-0, 15
KO’s) had lost his only major title challenge against Dimitri Sartison
in Germany back in 2009. Since his title challenge Bozic has fought
only once, ten months ago against mediocre opposition.
Under normal circumstances Bozic would be nothing more than a
sacrificial lamb, but with his big super six fight fast approaching
the boxing media kept a close eye on the bout to see if Abraham would
capitalise on the opportunity to refine his skills for the big
challenge ahead, or would he simply go looking for the big knockout.
>From the opening bell Abraham concentrated his efforts on establishing
the jab, throughout the first round he doubled up on the jab while
switching his attack to both the body and head.
In the second round Bozic responded to an Abraham attack by opening up
an assault of his own, during the exchange he landed a blow on the
elbow of Abraham dropping to the canvas in pain, the referee on the
advice of the ringside doctor stopped the fight due to a suspected
broken hand.
In the short time `King Arthur’ showed some change in his fighting
style, certainly focusing more on his jab. It remains to be seen if
the Armenian has refined his arsenal to mount a serious challenge
against Olympic gold medallist Andre Ward, Abraham’s best chance of a
victory against Ward will most likely be seeking the early knockout.
Arthur Abraham will meet Andre Ward in the semi-final of the super six
tournament at a date yet to be announced. The other semi-final will be
contested between England’s Carl Froch against the road warrior Glen
Johnson scheduled in for 21 May
From: A. Papazian