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Kreuzberg, Germany
Arthur Abraham UD-12 Robert Stieglitz: It took three attempts and a weak titlist, but Arthur Abraham can finally say he's a two-division world champion with this win over Stieglitz, which gives King Arthur the WBO super middleweight title. Honestly, Stieglitz is solid and competent, and Abraham is just better than him, and that's the way it is. This idea that Abraham sucks came out of the new boxing fan standards that too often expect too much, and then will turn around and complain about guys having a few losses not being a big deal, so why can't they get some good fights? We champion guys like Chop Chop Corley -- which is fine, don't take this as being against that idea -- and will dump on Abraham because, well, why? Because he complains about body shots and doesn't like physical fights, I guess. And that's the good reason. There seems to be some line you can cross where you're so washed-up that if you score a win or two, it's magical and inspiring, but if you're Abraham, who's never really fallen out of contention so much as fallen from the elite perch, it's all, "so what?"
So basically what we want is for fighters to always test themselves, so long as the impression is that they haven't been doing so, but once they do and they lose to a few top fighters (Ward, Froch, Dirrell), then they "suck" and probably should retire, unless they lose so much that we don't really pay attention, and then they can come back with a couple of upsets as a triumph of the human spirit and all that. As the loathsome Connor Rooney once said, "It's all so fuckin' hysterical." There's a perfectly fine argument that Abraham is the third-best super middleweight in the world at the moment, depending on whether or not you consider Andre Dirrell to be a professional boxer this week. Abraham 35-3 (27), Stieglitz 42-3 (23).
Kreuzberg, Germany (cont.)
Robin Krasniqi KO-4 Serdar Sahin, Jack Culcay TKO-3 Frederic Serre, Dustin Dirks TKO-7 Sandro Siproshvili: All went according to plan and as expected on the undercard, with a series of showcase fights for these three winners going off without much of a hitch. And other things people say. Krasniqi 38-2 (14), Culcay 12-0 (8), Dirks 25-0 (19).
Prembroke, Malta
Scott Dixon SD-12 Baker Barakat: Scotland's Dixon, once beaten nearly to death outside of the ring, relocated to Malta some years ago and slowly started a boxing comeback in 2007. Now 35, this is his first "real" win in nearly a decade -- the guys he'd fought leading up to this had minimal experience at best. It also puts the WBU super middleweight title on Dixon, a former Commonwealth welterweight champion. For Dixon, this is his world title, his great achievement, his Rocky story. And I just don't have the cynicism in me right now to argue about it. Dixon 34-10-4 (9), Barakat 36-13-4 (24).
Other Results
Tulum, Mexico: Roberto Ortiz TKO-2 Florencio Castellano, Wilbert Uicab UD-12 Ivan Diaz, Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez UD-10 Richard Gutierrez ... Fairfield, California: Alan Sanchez TKO-10 Manuel Leyva ... Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ezequiel Maderna UD-10 Oscar Daniel Veliz ... Buenos Aires, Argentina: Martin Rodriguez TKO-7 Oscar Jesus Pereyra ... Geelong, Australia: Sam Soliman UD-12 Giovanni Lorenzo ... Indio, California: Randy Caballero UD-10 Manuel Roman, Michael Perez SD-10 Fidel Maldonado Jr ... Corona, California: Artemio Reyes KO-2 John David Charles ... Sacramento, California: Otis Griffin TKO-2 Adam Collins ... Tulare, California: Roman Morales UD-8 Jonathan Alcantara.