By Jake Donovan

If lineal middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik represents the final exam for current alphabet titlist Arthur Abraham, then consider Saturday’s title defense the Oral portion of this subject, one he aced with flying colors.

Five knockdowns paved the way for Abraham to make the 10th defense of one of the longest active title reigns in the sport as the transplanted Armenian scored a 10th round knockout of former sparring partner Mahir Oral on Saturday at Max Schmelling Halle in Berlin, Germany.

The show was presented by Sauerland Event and aired via same day tape-delay on American cable network SHOWTIME in a special edition of their Shobox series.

As is the case in nearly all of Abraham’s fights, the first round was fought in feel ‘em out fashion. Abraham spent much of the round fighting behind a tight guard, baiting Oral to expend energy throwing at a target that never became open.

Both fighters picked up the pace in the second. Oral stayed busy, but still landing very little. Abraham finally opened up on the offensive front, still maintaining his high guard, but countering well, particularly with his jab and his left hook to the body.

It was virtually more of the same in the third. Abraham jabbed and moved in the first minute of the round before dialing in with his left hook upstairs. Oral enjoyed a brief moment of success late in the round, momentarily rocking Abraham with a left hook as both fighters simultaneously threw head shots while on the inside.

The crowd tried to will both fighters into the fight in the fourth, desperate for action of any kind to transpire. The fists began flying late in the round, but it was mostly Abraham connecting on Oral’s chin. A flurry had the Turk stunned, with a right cross flooring him for the bout’s first knockdown. Oral beat the count and survived the final 30 seconds of the round, though absorbing a tremendous amount of punishment.

While the knockdown only added to his already big lead, Abraham was urged by his corner to keep the momentum going in the fifth. Student obeyed teacher, as the two fighters suddenly switched roles. It was now Abraham serving as the aggressor while Oral played defense for most of the round.

Round six saw a similar pattern. Oral kept coming forward, but offering very little to keep Abraham off of him. A jab and chopping right sent Oral to the canvas for the second time in the fight with less than a minute to go in the round.

Once again, the Turkish fringe contender recovered, and to his credit attempted to fight back. He survived the round and then took the fight to Abraham in the seventh, as the champion reverted to earmuff defense as his punch output dropped considerably.

Oral looked for lightning to strike twice, fighting the eighth round expecting the same exact pattern to transpire. Abraham caught his former sparring partner off guard, landing several right hands while Oral literally let his guard down. The champion spent the rest of the round playing matador defense.

The early portions of the ninth saw both fighters work behind their jab. Abraham eventually uncorked his offense, dialing in his right hand upstairs while Oral could only absorb.

That credit soon ran out, as the tenth would mark the beginning and the end of Oral’s evening. Abraham struck early in the round, connecting with a left hook upstairs for the bout’s third knockdown. The fourth and fifth would soon follow, both courtesy of body shots. Referee Earl Brown was willing to allow the onslaught to continue, but Oral’s corner decided enough was enough, literally throwing in the towel to signal an end to the one-sided bout.

The official time was 1:23 of round ten.

Abraham improves to 30-0 (24KO) with the win, racking up the 10th defense of the alphabet middleweight title he won in December 2005.

Oral falls to 25-2-2 (7KO) in his first shot at a major title. The loss snaps a 18-fight unbeaten streak dating back to 2005.

As Pavlik continues to keep it on cruise control in the slow lane, all eyes are now on Abraham’s next move. The Armenian has repeatedly insisted his intentions of staying at middleweight long enough to get Pavlik in the ring.

However, conflicting quotes from Wilfried Sauerland make it unclear where exactly he goes from here.

The Germany-based promoter suggested earlier in the week that he expected this title defense to be his very last, with a move to 168 all but guaranteed. In a separate interview with Boxingscene.com, Sauerland insisted that talks were ongoing with Pavlik’s camp and promoter Top Rank and believes that a head-on collision will happen in the near future.

Whether he stays put or moves up, Abraham is determined to prove he’s worthy of serving as the head of the class. What he continues to await is an invitation for the entrance exam.

Paging Professor Pavlik.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.