Robert Stieglitz avenged last year's title loss to Arthur Abraham with an emphatic third round stoppage Saturday evening in Magdeberg, Germany.
Stieglitz was in control for the entire affair, capitalizing on Abraham's reputation as a slow starter by attacking him from the opening bell. Abraham never made the adjustment, suffering a rapidly swelling left eye in the second round which was completely closed by the end of the third.
Abraham was out on his feet at several points in the third, clinching when necessary but also resorting to dirty tactics. The transplanted Armenian was docked a point for rabbit punching, thus digging an even deeper hole on the scorecards after failing to win a single round.
Scoring became a moot point once Abraham was forced to quit on his stool as the fourth round was set to begin.
The official time was 0:02 of round four.
Both fighters now boast title winning efforts over the other in their respective hometowns. Stieglitz regains his title in front of a hometown crowd of over 8,000, seven months after losing his belt in Abraham's adopted hometown of Berlin.
The win is Stieglitz' second straight as he improves to 44-3 (25KO). Abraham snaps a four-fight win streak - all of which came in an incredible 2012 comeback campaign - as he falls to 36-4 (28KO). The fight marked the first stoppage loss of his 10-year career.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board, Yahoo Boxing Ratings Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter:
@JakeNDaBox
