Integrated Sports To Distribute IBF Boxing Title Fight Between Abraham, Marquez

Integrated Sports will distribute the much anticipated October 4 showdown between unbeaten International Boxing Federation middleweight champion “King” Arthur Abraham and top contender Raul “El Diamente” Marquez, in the United States and Canada, live from Germany.

Abraham, 27-0 (22), rated No. 2 by The Ring and ESPN, is coming off of his first fight in the United States in Hollywood, FL,stopping Edison Miranda in the second round of their June 21 title fight rematch in explosive fashion. Abraham, however, remains somewhat of a curiosity factor in North America in terms of being a serious threat for Kelly Pavlik in a potential unification bout.

“King” Arthur captured the IBF middleweight title nearly three years ago by way of a fifth-round knockout of Kingsley Ikeke. Eight successful title defenses have followed against Miranda twice, Shannon Taylor, Kofi Jantuah, Sebastian Demers, Khoren Gevor, Wayne Elcock and Elvin Ayala.

The 37 year old Marquez, 41-3-1 (29), rated No. 2 by the IBF as well as No. 8 by The Ring and ESPN, earned his title shot against Abraham by defeating previously unbeaten No. 1 contender Giovanni Lorenzo in their IBF title eliminator on the June 21 Abraham-Miranda card. Marquez, fighting out of Houston, was a 1992 U.S. Olympian who was the IBF junior middleweight title-holder in 1997.

Despite taking off 1 ½ years to work as a broadcaster for HBO’s boxing telecasts in Spanish, Raul is more experienced in the ring than Abraham – 269 to 161 in rounds fought – having been in against world champions Jermain Taylor, Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas and Yori Boy Campas.

“We’re delighted to show this fight in the U.S. and Canada and help reintroduce ‘King’ Arthur Abraham to fans here,” Integrated Sports president Doug Jacobs said. “It’s a pleasure working with promoters Wilfried Sauerland and Seminole Warriors Boxing. We’ll have world renowned announcers Al Bernstein and Nick Charles calling the bouts on our broadcast. If some boxing fans have plans that afternoon, they can watch a replay later than same night.”

The 10-round co-feature on the PPV show from Germany has former NABO champion Otis “Triple OG” Griffin, 19-3-2 (7), of Sacramento, taking on Yugoslavian-born Enad Licina,14-1 (8), now living in Germany, for the vacant IBF Intercontinental cruiserweight belt. Additional undercard bouts to be part of the PPC card will soon be announced.

Abraham-Marquez is promoted by Wilfried Sauerland, presented by Sauerland Event and its Managing Director, Christian Meyer, in association with Seminole Warriors Boxing. The broadcast is being distributed in the United States and Canada by Integrated Sports for live viewing at 3 PM/ET – 12 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, TVN, DirecTV, Viewer’s Choice Canada, and Bell ExpressVue, for a suggested retail price of only $24.95. A replay will be shown that same night starting at 9 PM/ET.

For more information about the Abraham-Marguez PPV go to www.integratedsportsnet.com or www.warriorsboxing.com