Stieglitz Retains WBO Title/Abraham Returns Victorious

Stieglitz used a combination of straight acurate punching and good foot movement as he tattooed Weber at will without ever looking like ending the young challengers brave effort.

All three Judges saw the fight for the champion with Jose Roberto Torres scoring the bout 119-109, Ingo Barrabas 118-110 and Zoltan Enyedi a ridiculously close 116-112. My card read 120-108 as I found it hard to score a single round for the challenger.

23-year-old Weber from Berlin, previously unbeaten in his 16 contests, looked relaxed and happy sporting a mow hawk hair style as he waited for the champion to make his entrance to the ring.

When the bell sounded 30-year-old Stieglitz in the red shorts immediately set about his work as he picked off Weber from range with crisp right hands and the occasionally flash uppercut. The champion, keen to impress a watching television audience, was busy from the off as Weber struggled to get into punching range for long enough to land clean. Although not fazed by the attacks of Stieglitz, Weber’s face was already showing the effects of the heavy blows. Having had a good look at Weber in the opener, the champion came out with intent in round two as he hurt the youngster with a straight right hand down the pipe. With a high held guard Weber edged closer but Stieglitz punched through and around it as he upped the pace looking for the early finish. Weber, with his face reddened, showed grit and determination but it was already clear he was a level below the champion.

Round three saw more of the same with Weber on the defensive under heavy fire as his lack of head movement made life easy for the champion. In the fourth Weber tried to close the range down on Stieglitz but shipped more hard acurate punches for his trouble. A nicely picked uppercut from Weber brought about his first notable success before more combination punching from the champion again won him the round.

As the fight approached half way Stieglitz seemed to momentarily take his foot off the gas allowing Weber to push him back. The champion was becoming predictable in his attacks with constant head hunting when a body shot was called for. Despite this lull in the action Stieglitz was still a step or two in front.

Left, left, right was the combination of choice for the champion as round six began quickly. Weber again showed his undoubted heart and defiance but the fight was becoming hard to watch and one sided as referee Andre Van Grootenbruel had a good look at the baby faced challenger. Weber was still punching back and this fact alone was keeping him in the contest.

The fight was following a familiar pattern as Stieglitz utilized straight punching in the eighth to off set Weber and catch the eye of the judges. Late in the round Weber was forced back under a barrage of heavy punches, again prompting experienced referee Van Grootenbruel to consider his safety in the ring. The brave challenger showed a huge heart in the ninth as he briefly threatened to get a foothold in the contest before Stieglitz stepped on the gas to punch the ambition out of him.

 

Round 10 saw the champion make a concerted effort to finish the fight as he blasted through the guard of Weber with a seven punch salvo, rocking his head back in a violent manner. Without a punch to rescue the fight I felt Weber’s corner should have considered pulling him out at this stage as he was taking a methodical, sustained beating.

 

As it was he continued into the eleventh with Stieglitz now content to box his way to victory, as the movement Weber had was long gone, replaced by a motionless punching bag. The final round was a formality as Stieglitz coasted to an ease victory and onto a rumored April meeting in Copenhagen with Mikkel Kessler.

 

 

The co-featured bout saw the return to the ring of former IBF middleweight champion "King Arthur" Abraham (33-3). Not seen since his trouncing by Andre Ward in the super six semi final, Abraham looked tentative and out of sorts before he landed his vaunted power on an under sized Pablo Frias (19-2) to take him out in five rounds. After struggling to pin down an elusive Frias in the first four rounds Abraham finally trapped his man against the ropes to land a sickening body shot that effectively took all the fight from the Argentine. A follow up right hand dropped him on the seat of his pants before an innocuous looking body shot finished him. In truth Frias was done after the first punch.