By Jake Donovan
Arthur Abraham and Robert Stieglitz will meet for a fourth time, this time without the hassle of having to wait out a purse bid hearing. An agreement was reached between both camps earlier this week, notifying the World Boxing Organization (WBO) that they are set to continue their longstanding rivalry.
The WBO acknowledged receipt of such news informing all parties involved that they’ve canceled a purse bid hearing scheduled for Tuesday, April 14 in Budapest, Hungary.
“Please be advised that the Arthur Abraham vs. Robert Stieglitz Purse Bid to [be] held on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at the La Pampa Steakhouse in Budapest, Hungary, has been canceled,” confirmed Luis Batista-Salas, chairman of championship committee for WBO. “[T]he parties involved have reached an agreement.”
Abraham (42-4-, 28KOs) is currently 2-1 in their series, both wins resurrecting his seemingly fledging career. The veteran boxer from Germany by way of Armenia rebounded from the worst stretch o his career to claim a shocking 12-round decision over Stieglitz in their first meet in Aug. ’12, lifting a super middleweight title in the process.
Stieglitz (47-4-1, 27KOs) gained sweet revenge seven months later, forcing Abraham to quit due to injury after three bruising rounds of action. A near-year long stay as titlist followed before Abraham resurfaced towards the top with a 12-round split decision win last March.
Three successful defenses have followed for Abraham, including a pair of decisions over Britain’s Paul Smith. Their first was marred by wider-than-necessary scores in favor of Abraham last September. The rematch proved marginally more competitive, but with Abraham once again coming out on top.
No date or venue has yet been secured for Abraham-Stieglitz IV, though the agreement between camps would suggest a co-promotional effort. Sauerland Event (Abraham’s promoter) and Ulf Steinforth’ Sport Events Steinforth (SES, Stieglitz’ promoter) joined forces for each of the first two fights.
Terms could not be reached prior to the rubber match, which eventually went to a purse bid. SES won the right to promote the third fight, putting up a massive bid of more than $3.1 million USD only for his fighter to come out on the losing end of their clash in Magdeburg, Germany.
Stieglitz is coming off of a 12-round draw to Felix Sturm last November.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox