Sauerland beats Top Rank in Abraham-Ramirez purse bid

Sauerland Event won a purse bid yesterday to gain the rights to a WBO super middleweight title fight between Arthur Abraham and Gilberto Ramirez, beating out Ramirez's promoter Top Rank with a bid of $1.56 million, topping Top Rank's $1.5 million offer.

Sauerland says that no date for the fight is set, and that New York and Las Vegas are being considered as host cities, as well as Berlin. Abraham, 35, has not fought in the United States since his May 2011 loss to Andre Ward in Carson, California, and is just 2-3 in his career in fights held outside of Germany.

Abraham (44-4, 29 KO) has been on a roll of sorts, winning eight straight fights since a 2013 loss to Robert Stieglitz, though there have been a couple of close calls against Paul Smith, Martin Murray, and Stieglitz in that time. Ramirez (33-0, 24 KO) went 3-0 in 2015, and the 24-year-old Mexican southpaw made his HBO debut last year, too, beating Maxim Vlasov. He's a top 10 fighter at the weight right now, and with his height and style could be trouble for anyone.

Whether or not the fight takes place outside of Germany may depend on HBO's interest in airing the fight, and how much they'd be willing to pay for it. If there's not a substantial enough offer for American TV, the fight would likely be best off financially in Germany, where Abraham is a bigger star than Ramirez is in the United States, without question.