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...

Tonight at Osteehalle in Keil, Germany, IBF Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham puts his belt at risk against undefeated American Lajuan Simon.

Abraham, 28-0 (23), won the belt in December, 2005 and has staved off eight challengers during that time, stopping all but three of them and also knocking out nemesis Edison Miranda in a non-title rematch in June of last year.

The champion's challenger this evening in Keil will be Philadelphia based Lajuan Simon, 21-0-2 (12), who brings a nice record on paper but in reality is a 30 year old fighter who has never faced anyone remotely near Abraham's standing or ability.

Simon could turn out to be a cut far above the level of competition he's faced so far but if he isn't, the bout will only last as long as Abraham wants it to.

On the undercard, the vacant WBA and WBC Female Welterweight titles are up for grabs when Ceceilia Braekhus, 10-0 (2), squares off with Vinni Skovgaard, 7-0 (3), over ten scheduled rounds.