Duluth News Tribune, MN
May 14 2006
Armenian keeps IBF title
ZWICKAU, Germany – Armenia’s Arthur Abraham retained the IBF
middleweight title Saturday in a rousing 12-round brawl with Kofi
Jantuah.
On the same card, Germany’s Markus Beyer retained the WBC super
middleweight title against Australian Sakio Bika when a head butt
stopped the fight.
The fight was ruled a technical draw after Bika’s fourth round head
butt opened a cut under the German’s right eye and it swelled shut.
About 4,000 spectators gave Abraham, 21-0 with 17 knockouts, a
standing ovation after the action-filled fight. He was awarded a
115-112, 116-111, 117-109 decision against Jantuah, who lives in Las
Vegas.
Jantuah (30-3, 19 knockouts) was staggered numerous times from the
fifth round on and looked as if he was going down in the 11th when
Abraham buckled his knees with a left, but never stopped pressing the
fight.
Abraham kept trying to knock him out, even in the 12th, when he had a
big lead to protect.
Bika rattled Beyer with a short left uppercut, then chased him around
the ring. The German tagged him with some hard lefts beforehand and
recovered to put him into the ropes just before the bell.
Beyer entered the fight 34-2 with 13 knockouts, while Bika was 20-1
with 13 knockouts.
– In Sheffield, England, Clinton Woods stopped Jason DeLisle in the
sixth round to retain his IBF light-heavyweight title in his second
defense.