Arthur Abraham vs Robert Stieglitz Preview March 23
The GETEC Arena, in Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany will be the site for a clash between two home towners on March 23 when Arthur Abraham will be attempting to defend the WBO version of the Super Middleweight Championship against Robert Stieglitz. Though both boxers fight out of Germany, Stieglitz was born in Russia, and Abraham originally hails from Armenia. Abraham defeated Stieglitz by a unanimous decision last August to take his crown by scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 115-113.
The 5-foot-11 Stieglitz was born in 31 years ago and last fought in January when he beat Michael Nieroda by a third-round knockout. He originally won the title back in August of 2009 with an 11th-round TKO over Karoly Balzsay of Hungary and defended it successfully five times until losing it to Abraham. Two of Stieglitz’s losses were knockouts, to Librado Andrade in the eighth round in 2008 and in the third round a year earlier against Alejandro Berrio.
The 32-year-old Abraham will be taking a 36-3 record into the ring with him along with 28 KOS. He’s not very tall at all for the weight division at just 5-foot-9 with a 72-inch reach. He’s shown a lot of power and heart in the past and beat Edison Miranda while fighting with a broken jaw back in 2006.
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Abraham’s fought some top boxers since turning pro in 2003, including Howard Eastman, Kingsley Ikeke, Shannon Taylor, Kofi Jantuah, Sebastien Demers, Raul Marquez, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Carl Froch, and Andre Ward. His losses came against Dirrell, Froch, and Ward, all in the Super Six Tournament. He was disqualified in the 11th round against Dirrell for hitting him while he was down and lost 12-round unanimous decisions to Froch and Ward.
Abraham won the IBF title in 2005 with a fifth-round KO over Ikeke and defended it 10 times. He has a straightforward boxing style that’s pretty easy to predict, but you still have to be able to take his power to beat him. He isn’t active enough though if he can’t find an opening, meaning he’ll wait for a chance to take a shot instead of creating an opening. After beating Stieglitz for the title last summer he defended it against Mehdi Bouadla in December by stopping him in the eighth round.
Prediction
The Russian Stieglitz is an above average boxer, but isn’t really exceptional in any particular department. He has a boxer’s chance against Abraham, but his past losses show that he might not have the greatest chin. And the past could be a key in this fight. Stieglitz isn’t really in the same class as many of Abraham’s opponents. If Abraham hasn’t taken a step backward in the skill and heart departments then he should take this rematch by a decision or stoppage in the second half.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds of a Stieglitz win at +410 and an Abraham victory at -400. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done of late capping the fights.
Arthur Abraham betting • Robert Stieglitz betting