In what may be his last fight at middleweight, IBF champ Arthur Abraham clashed with tough challenger Mahir Oral last night in front of 7,000 fans at Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany.

Oral, a former sparring partner of Abraham's, showed that he was well acquainted with the style of the champion in the early going, peppering Abraham with jabs and combinations that didn't seem to have much effect other than winning the rounds for Oral.

Abraham was slower than usual in warming up, perhaps conserving whatever energy he had left following his efforts to continue making 160 pounds.

But "King Arthur" awoke at the end of the fourth stanza to blitz the challenger to the floor with heavy artillery but he couldn't finish off Oral. More...

European Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck continued to crush the opposition as the heavy-handed 24 year old spent his Saturday night handling the challenge posed by Belgium's undefeated Geoffrey Battelo at Edrgas Arena in Riesa, Germany.

Battelo took the fight to Huck and wanted a close quarters brawl but the champion patiently kept his distance, scoring from behind a high guard whenever the challenger went off balance or out of position from missed punches.

Gradually, Huck chipped away at the Belgian's resolve until open warfare broke out in the third and Battelo was dropped hard by a Huck uppercut.

The big-hearted challenger beat the count but was in no condition to defend himself adequately from Huck's followup assault and the action was called off at 2:57 of the round. More...

A big show takes place tonight at the Erdgas Arena in Riesa with European Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck placing his belt on the line against hard punching Belgian Geoffrey Battelo in the headlining contest.

Huck, 23-1-1 (18), has been on a roll since dropping an IBF title challenge to Steve Cunningham in December, 2007, winning four straight including a European title winning effort against France's Jean Marc Montrose in September of last year.

The heavy-handed 24 year old from Bielefeld faces Liege based contender Battelo, 18-0 (15), who hasn't lost a bout since turning pro in May, 2005.

Batello has swept through the lower European ranks at cruiser with little difficulty, but he hasn't come close to meeting anyone of Huck's caliber and will definitely go into this title challenge as an underdog.

Unbeaten light middle Alexander Abraham, 23-0-1 (16), defends his EBU-EE crown for the first time when he squares off with 21 year old undefeated Serbian stylist Nikola Stevanovic, 16-0 (6).

IBF International Cruiserweight Champ Enad Licina, 15-1 (9), will look to improve upon his victory over America's Otis Griffin last time out when he faces the challenge of chinny Colombian KO artist Jose Luis Herrera, 16-4 (16).

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. More...

Arthur Abraham 159.6 lb
Raul Marquez 160 lb
IBF Middleweight Championship More...

Challenger Raul "El Diamente" Marquez vowed once again at today's press conference in Germany to shock the boxing world when he fights unbeaten International Boxing Federation middleweight champion "King" Arthur Abraham on Saturday at Jako Arena in Bamberg, Germany. More...

"King" Arthur Abraham´s defence of the IBF title against Raul Marquez that was to have taken place last night in Bamberg is postponed until November 8.

According to a press release from Sauerland Event, the champion woke up Saturday morning with "a temperature and flu-like symptoms". Abraham was then diagnosed with influenza which forced a postponement of not just Abraham vs Marquez but for the show as a whole. More...

Arthur Abraham 160 lbs.
Raul Marquez 160 lbs.
(IBF Middleweight Championship)

Enad Licina 197 lbs.
Otis Griffin 186 ½ lbs.
(IBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight Championship) More...

Former NABO champion Otis "Triple OG" Griffin has traveled halfway around the world, from his California home to Germany for Saturday's (October 4) fight against Enad Licina, in order to prove that "The Next Great Champ" winner is much more than a reality television fighter. More...