By Jake Donovan
It’s not the career path he had in mind when snatching a vacant middleweight belt late in 2005, a little more than just two years into his professional career.
Four years after the title-winning fifth round knockout of Kingsley Ikeke, “King” Arthur Abraham still remains an undefeated titlist awaiting the opportunity to advance to a worldwide boxing superstar.
Always possessing the desire to go at boxing – and life –at 100 MPH and running, getting the transplanted Armenian to sit back and let others do the work for him hasn’t always been the easiest task.
But six years into his career, Abraham - born in Yerevan, Armenia but now lives and fights out of Berlin, Germany - has gained major momentum as the boxing world as one of the two best middleweights in the world. It’s that unique status for which the public seeks his involvement in the one remaining dream fight in one of boxing’s most storied divisions – a showdown with lineal middleweight king Kelly Pavlik.
On the surface, his mandatory defense versus unheralded Mahir Oral means very little. It’s the 10th defense of a title reign filled with too many Oral’s and not enough top names to allow Abraham to enjoy the star status his talents deserve.
However, thanks to a late executive decision, the next step of his career will now gain something else that has sorely lacked throughout his young career until his past few fights – stateside televised coverage. Cable giant Showtime agreed to pick up the overseas feed, which airs via same-day tape-delay from the Max Schmelling Halle in Berlin (Saturday, 9PM ET/PT).
After remaining an Internet rumor to most on this side of the Atlantic, Abraham (29-0, 23KO) will now enjoy stateside viewership for the third time in his last four fights, which will have come in the span of exactly 52 weeks once the bell rings for this Saturday’s bout.
Fighting that often is par for the course for Abraham, in fact less than he would actually prefer. “He would prefer to fight every single month so I have to slow him down a little,” jokes Wilfried Sauerland, whose Germany-based Sauerland Event promotional company has guided his career since he turned pro in 2003.
“Arthur has incredible power and also an incredible will. He has what it takes to conquer the United States.”
In just ten combined years as an amateur and pro, Abraham has already proven his ability to conquer a sport that wasn’t even his first choice.
A standout amateur bicyclist, Abraham claimed two South German titles but lacked the passion to continue with the sport. He eventually turned to boxing, immediately collecting regional titles and racking up wins at a 90% clip (81 wins out of 90 amateur fights) while eyeing a spot in the 2000 Olympics.
Standing in the way of his dream was commitment to serve in the Armenian Army, which also delayed his desire to turn pro by another two years.
Though not a fan of the slow road, patience is what led him to Sauerland Event in 2003.
“One day Arthur and his brother Alexander showed up in our gym in Cologne (before later moving to Berlin´s Max-Schmeling-Gym),” recalls Sauerland of the first time he met the man who would eventually become and be known as ‘King’. “They were carrying plastic bags with the few things they possessed. Arthur begged coach Ulli Wegner to give him a chance.”
The noted German trainer in fact gave him a chance – though certainly not a break.
“Ulli ordered him to do sparring with (then-)world champion Sven Ottke and he could not believe his eyes. Ulli told me that I have to give them a contract straight away.
“The rest, as they say, is history.”
History for Sauerland and Abraham is only six years deep, but “King” Arthur has shown a flair for cramming a lot into very little amount of space. He turned pro in August 2003, averaging a fight per month through his first 12, all ending in knockout and in five rounds or less.
The early-bird streak ended in his next fight, though the knockout run continued, taking out serviceable Nedal Hamdan midway through the 12th and final round of their September ’04 bout. From there, some space began to makes its way between fights, going every 2 – 2 ½ months between paydays.
All told, 14 straight knockouts would be the tally before first being extended the distance, which came early in 2005 against Ian Gardner. It was the first of two times in the year that Abraham would hear the final bell, going as deep five months later against Howard Eastman, who was freshly removed from his middleweight title challenge of then-undisputed middleweight king Bernard Hopkins.
Oddly enough, the biggest win of Abraham’s career came just hours before Hopkins would ever again enter the ring as the reigning middleweight champ, losing his titles (including the lineal crown) to Jermain Taylor that very night in the United States.
Because Taylor had an immediate rematch clause with Hopkins, he was forced with the hard decision of giving up one of the four belts he just acquired.
His loss would soon become another’s gain. A week after Taylor would beat Hopkins for the second time in as many controversial tries, Abraham easily won the title he still possesses today, dominating Kingslely Ikeke before stopping him midway through the fifth round.
The win came just 26 months into his career – or to put in better perspective, six months less than how long he has presently retained that title, a statistic that figures to grow once he gets passed this weekend’s defense.
That he is still a champion today speaks volumes of his will considering the reign almost didn’t make it out of its first year. Two defenses in, he barely survived a brutal twelve-round slugfest with then-undefeated challenger Edison Miranda in September 2006. Abraham was forced to overcome repeated headbutts as well as fighting more than seven rounds with a severely broken jaw in order to escape with a well-earned decision win.
The spin on this side of the world was that Miranda was the latest fighter to get screwed in Germany, but a lopsided June 2008 knockout loss closed the book on that ordeal once and for all. The rematch marked Abraham’s stateside debut, traveling to Hollywood, Florida, out of where Miranda’s Warriors Boxing promotional group was based. It also marked his first appearance on Showtime, whom was so impressed with the brash Armenian that they chose to commemorate the one-year anniversary with another showcase, much to his delight.
“It is a big honor for me that SHOWTIME will broadcast this fight; I was thrilled when I heard the news,” admits Abraham, whose lone other U.S.-aired fight was his 6th round stoppage of Raul Marquez on an independent pay-per-view last November.
“I want to please my fans not just in Germany but also in the US. I really enjoyed fighting in Florida. The KO win over Miranda was also on SHOWTIME so I hope for a similar result this time out.”
Given the completely anonymous status of his opponent, anything less than what came a year ago on Showtime would be considered a disappointment. That said, it’s worth noting that Oral has won 18 straight dating back to 2005 and has never been stopped.
That’s the good news; the bad news is that he’s also never been tested, other than in the gym when once serving as Abraham’s sparring partner.
But this weekend is about more than just a title fight showcase. Abraham is well aware of the makeshift audition that is taking place, with the real intention to further drum up interest in a showdown with Kelly Pavlik, one he hopes is considerably easier to make than with his in-country rival and fellow middleweight beltholder Felix Sturm.
“I want to prove that I am the real champion,” insists Abraham. “During the course of the years we have made a lot of offers to Sturm and his promoters, Universum, but everybody knows that they are scared of me.
“With Pavlik, I hope we can set something up before the end of the year.”
Fighter and promoter are on the same page, though perhaps not on the same exact timetable.
“Since Felix Sturm does not dare to get into the same ring with Arthur, we have been trying hard to set up a clash with Kelly Pavlik,” reveals Wilfried Sauerland, who has been in Abraham’s career (as well as his brother Alex’) since they began boxing. “We hope to get something done soon.”
Soon is one of the few terms to which the precocious Abraham relates, especially factoring in his past difficulties in shrinking down to middleweight. Rumors have swirled of his possibly defecting to super middleweight in the very near future, even if it means leaving behind unfinished business.
Abraham doesn’t deny that a run at 168 is eventually in the cards, but not before he finishes what he started in the division where he currently resides.
“Sooner or later I will move up to super middleweight but I hope not before I have beaten Kelly Pavlik. He is the super-champion and I want his belts. I would go to the United States to fight him – anywhere he wants, even in his living room.”
Before that can happen, there is the matter of getting past his pesky mandatory with Oral. While not overlooking the fight, Abraham sees it as the next step of what he recognizes as a long journey ahead of him.
“If you want to be a superstar, you have to make big fights in the US. That is where the big champions, the real champions are made. My victory over Miranda last summer was a good first step. I hope to be back soon to follow it up with more spectacular wins.”
No win would be more spectacular than one that would make him the first ever fighter of Armenian descent to claim the lineal crown of a division more than 160 years old.
Somewhere along that way had to have come some of the same patience Arthur Abraham has learned to embrace while remaining on the road to eventual superstardom.
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.
