Boxing: Abraham wins with controversial verdict

Arthur Abraham won in Offenburg against the Dane Patrick Nielsen on points (116:111, 116:111, 113:114). The 38-year-old super middleweight thus holds the international title of the WBO association and is once again making a run for a World Championship title.

Abraham was not convincing against his ten years younger competitor. The verdict was highly controversial, which is why Nielsen marched pissed off from the ring towards the cabin. Even some ex-boxers who followed the action did not see Abraham as the winner.

“The verdict is unjustifiable. Until the sixth round, Nielsen was always in the lead except for one round. After that, Nielsen certainly won one or two more rounds,” said Graciano Rocchigiani at Sport1, for example.

Abraham himself disagreed. “I think the verdict was correct. He was ahead in the first few laps, but then I overtook him. From the fourth lap on, his shots weakened and I gave more gas,” said coach Ulli Wegner’s protégé.

The fact is that the victory gives Abraham, who would have ended his career if he had lost, the best chance of a World Cup fight. This was explained by promoter Nisse Sauerland before the fight.

Abraham wants a duel for the belt: “I want to fight for the World Cup belt as quickly as possible. After that I want to defend the title two or three times and then say goodbye to boxing.”

Abraham had lost his WBO belt in 2016. Since then he has been thrown back again and again. Especially the shamefully lost fight against the British Chris Eubank Jr. in July 2017 had left its mark on Abraham.