This Saturday WBO Super Middleweight world champion Arthur Abraham (42-4, 28 KOs) will defend his title against former world champion Robert Stieglitz (47-4-1, 27 KOs). The bout will be the fourth fight between the two fighters. Abraham holds a 2 victories to 1 edge over Stieglitz. The Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, in Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany will host the event. Each fight of the series has its own story with each a different dynamic. The first fight was won by Abraham which was a clear unanimous decision. Stieglitz owns the only win inside the distance in the series. This was the second fight where Abraham’s left eye was completing closed due to many power punches received from Stieglitz. The referee would stop the fight on advice from the ringside doctor. The last fight was a very close fight which ended in a split decision going to Abraham. The difference in the fight seemed to be a knockdown scored by Abraham when Stieglitz took a knee temporarily in the 12th and final round but did finish the fight in route to losing by decision.
Stieglitz fought former middleweight champion Felix Sturm to a draw in his last fight. It appeared that Abraham was hoping that Sturm would have come out victorious. It’s no secret that an Abraham vs. Sturm fight was one that has been anticipated to happen for years by the German fans. This goes back to the days when they were both unbeaten middleweight champions of the world. Abraham just finished a hard fought back to back winning series vs. Paul Smith of the United Kingdom. Abraham won the first fight but there was a lot of controversy over the scoring of the fight by the judges and a rematch was made. Abraham vowed to stop Smith the second time around but Smith to his credit showed a lot of heart of taking Abraham’s best punches and firing back with his own. Abraham cleared all doubt this time winning a convincing unanimous decision.
The question now as we enter this fourth fight between the two is will this be the last time we see Abraham and Stieglitz share a ring. If Stieglitz were to win the fight it would even the series and a fifth fight would be warranted. The WBO super middleweight title has been at play in each of the previous 3 fights as it is in the next one. Each fighter has actually made successful defenses of the world title against other opposition while this series has been going on. Abraham has the opportunity to close out the series . A convincing win by Abraham would justify both fighters moving on to other potential bigger fights. This may be easier said than done based on the current pattern of the previous 3 fights.
