Tonight at the Jako Arena in Bamberg, IBF Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham puts his belts on the line against former IBF Light Middle titlist Raul Marquez on a bill that also includes the vacant IBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight title matchup between Otis Griffin and Enad Licina.

Abraham, 27-0 (22), had to pull out of a previously scheduled clash with Marquez, 41-3-1 (29), due to illness and but looked to be in rude health at yesterday's weigh-in and appears to be fully prepared for tonight's contest.

Marquez won the right to challenge Arthur with a close points verdict over previously unbeaten prospect Giovanni Lorenzo in June but it's unlikely that the 37 year old southpaw will come out the winner in this contest with Abraham.

The sometime TV announcer had his heyday 11 years ago as IBF 154 pound champion and has since failed to beat the top flight men he's faced since that time including Yory Boy Campas, Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosley and Jermain Taylor.

That's not to say that Marquez cannot defeat Abraham, but it will be very difficult for the aging Houston based Mexican to pull this one off.

Abraham has defended the IBF title seven times and hasn't himself beaten, or even faced, true top level opposition but has looked very good in turning back such respectable rivals as Kingsley Ikeke, Kofi Jantuah and in his rematch with Edison Miranda.

In the first bout with Miranda however, Abraham was embroiled in a slugfest that saw him suffer a badly broken jaw and might not have prevailed if his hard-punching Colombian challenger wasn't deduced numerous points for infractions during the bout.

The German based native Armenian has handily defeated good but lower level challengers such as Wayne Elcock, Khoren Gevor, Sebastien Demers, Shannan Taylor and Elvin Ayala but this fight with Marquez really comes down to how much Marquez has left.

Marquez is definitely the most experienced man that Abraham has faced but can he stand toe to toe with the champion as Miranda did in the first bout and take the punishment for twelve long rounds while managing to mount a sustained offense himself?

The challenger has good punching power but if Abraham could take the best Miranda had to offer and keep coming forward, even with a tremendous injury, can Marquez expect to keep the champion off?

It should be an exciting bout and more competitive than many in the media are expecting.

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Boxing News Tags: Abdelouahed Ben Lelly, Arthur Abraham, Arthur Hein, Dominik Britsch, Enad Licina, Jason Gavern, Nick Klappert, Oleg Platov, Otis Griffin, Raul Marquez, Robert Blazo, Ronan Vanicky