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There were a handful of interesting contests that occurred over the weekend so let’s get started with the biggest name that saw action, Arthur Abraham.
The WBO super middle weight king was surprised by a strong second half rally from two-time British titlist Paul Smith at Sparkassen Arena in Kiel, Germany on Saturday.
Former IBF middleweight champ Abraham, 41-4 (28), making the second defense of his crown, started slow behind a trademark high guard but by the middle rounds had cut the distance Smith sought to maintain and was working well on the inside.
But by the seventh round, Smith, 35-4 (20), engaging in his first world title contest, threw caution to the wind and scored well with snappy combinations punctuated by body shots that sapped the champion’s energy.
By the championship rounds, Smith was in control until Abraham got his second wind in the eleventh before the pair went at it heartily in the final frame.
After a very close contest, the wide score cards of 117-111, 117-111 and 119-109 all in favor of Abraham drew wide criticism.
Business as usual in Germany?
While Smith may have been taken to the cleaners by the judges, he will likely receive a big fight, a title contest or an eliminator, in his next outing as that tends to occur lately after these situations.
Another world title clash happened on Saturday night and this time the reigning champion was not so fortunate.
Poland’s WBC cruiserweight king Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, 49-3-1 (35), walked into Moscow’s Dynamo Palace Of Sport hoping to retain his belt for the sixth time but local favorite Grigory Drozd, 39-1 (27), spoiled those plans.
There wasn’t much two-way action during the first half of the bout as Wlodcarczyk was put on the defensive by the busier challenger but Drozd made a strong statement in the eighth when he floored the durable Pole.
The champion tried to turn the tide in the tenth but was thwarted by the momentum of the local man, who handily dethroned Wlodarczyk by scores of 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109.
At 35, Drozd’s title reign is definitely coming late but the Russian could be hard to beat.
There was another cruiserweight title bout on the bill as Denis Lebedev, 26-2 (20), stamped his authority over previously unbeaten Pawel Kolodziej, 33-1 (18), for the WBA trophy.
Could we see a Drozd vs. Lebedev unification fight, which should be a massive domestic earner, in the near future? The winner could earn the biggest contest in the division against Germany based Marco Huck.
Heading across the Atlantic into Canada, another Russian, this time light heavyweight super novice Artur Beterbiev, 6-0 (6),lit up Montreal’s Bell Center with a incendiary performance, shocking ex-IBF champion Tavoris Cloud, 24-3 (19), via a second round KO for the vacant NABA strap.
It’s difficult to see how Cloud could come back from such a psychologically devastating setback while the sky is the limit for former amateur standout Beterbiev.
On Friday, longtime WBA bantam “super” champ Anselmo Moreno, 35-3-1 (12), made a rare visit outside his native Panama and was dethroned via sixth round technical decision in an all-southpaw clash when his defense against unheralded challenger Juan Carlos Payano, 16-0 (9), was stopped on a cut and Payano was ahead on the scorecards at Mesquite Arena in Mesquite, Texas.
Expect a rematch given the circumstances and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Moreno come back victorious against the very strong but limited newly minted champion from the Dominican Republic.
