By Johnny Walker
“King” Arthur Abraham cruised to a comfortable unanimous decision win today over Polish challenger Piotr Wilczewski, successfully defending his WBO European Super Middleweight title at the Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, Germany.
King Arthur won in regal fashion
The first half of the fight was a close affair, with Abraham fighting in flurries out of his trademark peek-a-boo guard, while Wilczewski used his jab to try to keep Abraham off balance. But gradually, Abraham’s brute strength began to overwhelm the game challenger.
Round five saw a strong combination of punches thrown by the champion drive Wilczewski into the ropes. The challenger continued to try to work around Abraham’s high guard with some limited success, but in return Abraham bruised him with thumping body shots: the left side of Wilczewski’s rib cage and back was visibly reddening.
In round seven, Wilczewski had a point deducted by referee Manuel Maritxalar, but no-one seemed quite sure what the offense was, though the Pole had resorted to holding at times. After that, Abraham seemed to get a second wind, and he began to enthusiastically pummel Wilczewski, now mixing in some wicked uppercuts with his withering body attack.
Round nine saw Abraham rock Wilczewski with a hard uppercut and two hard left hooks. The blistering attack from the champion kept up through round ten, and in round eleven, a series of shots from Abraham had Wilczewski on the verge of a knockout, as he staggered around the ring and held on for dear life, saved only by the bell to end the round.
After a final uneventful round, Abraham was judged to be the winner with scores of 118-109 (twice) and 119-108. Boxing Insider scored it similarly, 118-108 for Abraham, who will now look toward obtaining a world title at super middleweight.
