Robert Stieglitz vs Nader Hamdan Preview May 5th
After two opponents recently pulled out of bouts with him, WBO Super Middleweight Champion Robert Stieglitz has finally found somebody to fight at the Messehalle in Erfurt, Thuringen, Germany on May 5th. The champion will now be defending his belt against Nader Hamdan of Australia after George Groves and former champion Mikkel Kessler both pulled out of the bout after suffering injuries in a sparring session.
Stieglitz was born in Russia 30 years ago, but now fights out of Germany, while Hamdan is the WBO Asia Pacific Champion, but is now 38 years old. Hamdan realizes he’s in for a decent payday though and took this fight on short notice. He’s 5-foot-10 with a 70-inch reach while the champion stands just one inch taller.
Stieglitz last fought in January when he beat Henry Weber of Germany by a unanimous 12-round decision. He won the title back in August of 2009 with an 11th-round TKO over Karoly Balzsay of Hungary. He’s defended it successfully five times since then and has a 41-2 record with 23 KOs.
Hamdan is 43-9-1 with 18 KOs and hasn’t fought since last July when he beat Daniel Pawsey by a 12-round unanimous decision. However, it was just his first win in his last five bouts with three losses and a draw. In fact, he’s lost five out of his last nine bouts.
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Stieglitz isn’t concerned about Hamdan’s record though and feels he’s a worthy opponent to his crown. He said he’s excited that he finally found a good opponent and thinks Hamdan has the skills to give him a great challenge. Stieglitz knows he has to win this fight to line up a huge payday with former world champion Arthur Abraham.
Both men have a lot of pro experience and Hamdan has arguably faced the tougher opponents throughout his career. However, the champion has age on his side and also possesses more power than his Australian challenger. Hamdan realizes there aren’t a lot of expectations riding on his shoulders since he’s a late replacement and that could either motivate him or give him an excuse for a poor performance.
However, he’s quite a durable fighter and has been stopped just once in his pro career, which came in the 12th and final round against Abraham in 2004. He’s fought the majority of his bouts in Australia, but travelled to Japan in 2002 and beat Nobuhiro Ishida by a 12-round unanimous decision. He’s also fought some top boxers in Sam Soliman, Otis Grant, and Anthony Mundine, but lost to all three by decisions.
Prediction
Stieglitz’s two losses were both knockouts, to Librado Andrade in the eighth round in 2008 and in the third round a year earlier against Alejandro Berrio. Hamdan is a strong and underrated boxer, but he’s going to have his hands full with Stieglitz and will likely lose another decision to a top-class fighter.
Odds
The Unibet Sportsbook has the current odds of a Stieglitz victory at 1.05 with a Hamdan win at 9.00 and a draw at 34.00. Visit Unibet.com to bet on this fight. You do not need to use a Unibet promotional code to receive a free £20 bet on this fight.
Nader Hamdam betting • Robert Stieglitz betting