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Arthur Abraham to make first title defense on May 3 against Nikola Sjekloca

Arthur Abraham just regained the WBO super middleweight title, but is already set to return in less than two months against Nikola Sjekloca.

Martin Rose
Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

When Arthur Abraham regained the WBO super middleweight title in his third fight with Robert Stieglitz on March 1 in Germany, one of the early questions was what type of opponent the 34-year-old slugger would look to face in defense of his title.

Real contenders? Pretenders?

The first answer is pretender, as Abraham (39-4, 28 KO) will return on May 3 against Nikola Sjekloca (26-1, 8 KO) in Berlin. The quick turnaround, however somewhat makes up for the lackluster choice of opponent, and the fight should probably be considered something of a victory lap defense for the veteran star.

Sjekloca, 35, is a Serbian-born fighter who now resides in Montenegro, and is probably best (or only) known to fight fans from his wide loss to Sakio Bika in February 2013 on Showtime in a WBC final eliminator. His best win was a decision in 2011 against a faded Khoren Gevor.

This matchup is reminiscent of Abraham's December 2012 fight with Mehdi Bouadla, which was the first defense King Arthur made after his previous title win against Stieglitz.

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