By Ian S Palmer
Robert Stieglitz of Germany will be putting his WBO super middleweight crown on the line this Saturday March 1 when he takes on fellow countryman Arthur Abraham. This will be their third meeting and the rubber match as they’ve both won and lost one bout to each other. The 12-round fight will be broadcast on BoxNation in Britain and will take place in Magdeburg, Germany.
Even though they both call Germany home and fight out of there, Abraham was born in Armenia while Stieglitz hails originally from Russia. The champion will climb into the ring with a record of 46-3 along with 26 Kos while Abraham is 38-4, with 28 Kos to his name. They first met back in August of 2012 when Abraham won a decision.
Their rematch took place last March and it resulted in a fourth-round stoppage for the 32-year-old Stieglitz for his first world title triumph. Stieglitz had defended his crown twice since then with wins against Yuzo Kiyota last summer and Isaac Ekpo in the fall. Abraham has also been busy with wins over Willbefore Shihepo and Giovanni De Carolis.
It looks like each boxer has taken on weaker opponents to keep the hopes of their trilogy coming to fruition and the tactic has worked. The 34-year-old Abraham struggled against Shihepo though and many ringsiders felt he even los the fight. He did better against De Carolis, but neither boxer is a serious contender.
There’s no doubt that Abraham has more punching power than the champion even though he was the one who was stopped last time out. Stieglitz managed to earn the TKO by throwing punches non -stop from the opening bell and the tactic worked like a charm. Abraham was on the back foot from the get-go and was too concerned about defending than mounting an attack of his own.
When the fourth round rolled around Abraham’s eye was in pretty bad shape from the barrage of punches landed on it. He could barely see out of it and the fight was halted. Since those tactics were so successful for Stieglitz we should expect to see him try the same thing again this weekend. For Abraham to counter the swarming attack he’s going to have to be able to get some shots off first or make sure he counterpunches whenever he gets the chance.
The problem with Abraham is that he doesn’t often throw punches while his opponent is throwing. Abraham seems to wait until there’s a lull in the action before letting his fists fly. Stieglitz rightfully figured out the best way to beat him therefore is to just keep throwing as many shots as possible. This causes Abraham to basically go through each round barely throwing a punch.
Each boxer knows the other well by now and they have figured out their strengths and weaknesses. Abraham needs to land some solid blows on Stieglitz if he hopes to keep him at bay. This means he’s going to have to take the initiative rather than sit back and wait for an opening. Therefore, if he does, it could be an exciting bout.
Stieglitz has a two-inch height advantage and a couple of years in age. He doesn’t have the same power as Abraham, but is a more fluid boxer. Both men should be motivated for the fight, but it’s possible that Abraham’s too far past his prime and might not be able to deliver the goods. Stieglitz should be confident heading into the bout and as long as he doesn’t run into a solid shot he should be able to box his way to a decision victory.
