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Ex-champion Abraham set for middleweight comeback
(AFP) – 3 hours ago
BERLIN — Former world champion Arthur Abraham is to return to middleweight to revive his career after three defeats from five bouts at super-middleweight, it was announced Saturday.
"I want to prove I can come back," he told SID, an AFP subsidiary, after losing to US fighter Andre Ward in May at super-middleweight.
"No one should write me off.
"Just because I lost recently, it doesn't mean I have lost my sporting ambitions."
The 31-year-old Berliner has never been beaten, or even been put on the canvas, at middleweight in over 30 fights and made ten defences as the IBF champion for four years before stepping up in 2009.
He suffered the first defeat of his career when he was disqualified against Andre Dirrell in March 2010 for hitting the US fighter after the bell, then lost over 12 rounds to Britain's Carl Froch last November.
In May this year he lost to Ward, with the WBA super-middleweight title on the line.
His promoter, Germany's Wilfried Sauerland, has said Abraham will fight twice more at super middleweight, up to 76.2kg, then his third fight will be at middleweight, 72.5kg, probably in November.
Having often struggled to make the weight at middleweight, Abraham has been ordered by Sauerland to take expert advice to keep his weight down.
"It can only work if he works with a nutritional consultant and he strictly adheres to this plan. He hasn't done that before," said Sauerland.
(AFP) – 3 hours ago
BERLIN — Former world champion Arthur Abraham is to return to middleweight to revive his career after three defeats from five bouts at super-middleweight, it was announced Saturday.
"I want to prove I can come back," he told SID, an AFP subsidiary, after losing to US fighter Andre Ward in May at super-middleweight.
"No one should write me off.
"Just because I lost recently, it doesn't mean I have lost my sporting ambitions."
The 31-year-old Berliner has never been beaten, or even been put on the canvas, at middleweight in over 30 fights and made ten defences as the IBF champion for four years before stepping up in 2009.
He suffered the first defeat of his career when he was disqualified against Andre Dirrell in March 2010 for hitting the US fighter after the bell, then lost over 12 rounds to Britain's Carl Froch last November.
In May this year he lost to Ward, with the WBA super-middleweight title on the line.
His promoter, Germany's Wilfried Sauerland, has said Abraham will fight twice more at super middleweight, up to 76.2kg, then his third fight will be at middleweight, 72.5kg, probably in November.
Having often struggled to make the weight at middleweight, Abraham has been ordered by Sauerland to take expert advice to keep his weight down.
"It can only work if he works with a nutritional consultant and he strictly adheres to this plan. He hasn't done that before," said Sauerland.