By Mark Vester

In a recent interview with the Miami Herald , middleweight knockout artist, Edison Miranda of Colombia, told the paper that in order to make it big in the sport of boxing, a fighter must come to the United States and challenge top level competition. Miranda does not think rival Arthur Abraham or super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe will ever fight in the United States because they would rather fight in their own countries, where the fighters will feel more comfortable because the officials will be biased in their favor.

"To truly become accepted and make it big in the sport, you have to fight in America. That's why you will not see fighters like Abraham or Joe Calzaghe fight here,'' Miranda said.

Miranda felt he was robbed when he lost a decision to IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham on September 23 in Germany. He is not afraid of taking a rematch in Germany if the situation feels right. Because he was facing a champion that was based from the Country where the fight was staged, he feels the cards were stacked against him before he stepped in the ring and the fight officials were doing everything possible to make sure he would not win the fight.

''I am not afraid of him, but I am concerned about his promotional team, the people behind him and the officials because you just don't know if you can get a result in your favor over there,'' Miranda said. "I knew from the first bell after I got deducted not one but two points what was going to occur in the fight. No matter what I did to my advantage, I was not going to win the fight.''

But, Miranda proclaimed that the loss did not break him mentally or make him give up hope of winning a major title. It only made him stronger.

''People thought I was going to become discouraged with boxing after the loss against Abraham, which I still don't believe was a loss, and abandon training,'' Miranda said. "On the contrary, that [fight] gave me more strength, energy and desire.''