King Arthur Marches On..
By Arvin Nundloll
The self proclaimed “King” Arthur Abraham (27-0) destroyed a tough and durable Edison Miranda (30-3). All his trash talking and mind games were left out of the ring when King Arthur stepped in the ring and had Miranda out in just over ten minutes, an easy nights work some might suggest. Round four ended the mystery surrounding Edison Miranda’s ranking and ability on the world scene.
Miranda started off aggressive and broke into an early lead on the score cards by using his foot movement to get in and out of Abrahams reach and began to frustrate the “King”.
Slowly settli
ng in was Abraham, who found Miranda’s movement around the ring tricky and found himself in a similar situation to the first fight. After the first two rounds, Abraham found some rhythm to his boxing and began landing cleaner shots and began to grow in confidence.
Closing down Miranda and making him fight off the back foot paid dividends as Miranda began to crumble in the fourth round.
The end of Miranda began as Abraham landing a well timed right hook to floor Miranda.
After he rose, Abraham was waiting with a lethal left hook to floor Miranda again. Once again Miranda rose, however this time Abraham unleashed another left hook and put Miranda to sleep as the referee waived the fight off after 1.13 of round 4.
Abraham’s first fight in the United States can be deemed a success, being in with an exciting and explosive fighter like Miranda was bound to end up a success and will no doubt entice the boxing fans into a frenzy with the possible line up of Abraham – Pavlik by the end of the year.
It is also cemented Arthur Abraham as one of Armenia’s most prolific and successful sports stars in history.
Speaking on his performance after the fight Abraham had the following to say:
“I am a true champion. And a true champion has confidence. So I was here to defend the title here. There is no difference (from the last fight). Every ring is the same. In this fight, I was more cautious. The last time, I didn't pay as much attention to that. I tired him out then knocked him down.....I want to thank America for this big chance. Thank you, America. I wish for a chance to fight Oscar De La Hoya and a chance to fight Kelly Pavlik. I like America. The American people are very nice people and I'll come again.”
Miranda responded by being graceful in defeat and expressed his admiration for the “King”
“He prepared very well. I have no quarrels tonight. He was prepared and he was very strong. I don't know what happened. I was 100% coming into this fight. I don't know. He was too strong today. He's a great champion."
In hindsight, Miranda couldn’t have done wrong early on, using the reach and frustrating Abraham, however he remained open to a right jab from Abraham every time he came to fight inside. This also showcased Abraham to be boxer who can finish off an opponent with no second chance needed, a skill he can share with Kelly Pavlik with his recent performance against Gary Lockett.
With Kessler supposedly touting Pavlik as well, a triangle is emerging between the three fighters, which can only bring a brighter future for boxing. The fight being made at a catch weight of 166 can lead to a rise in weight division for Abraham should he choose to go up to super middleweight, however he had a mandatory in Raul Marquez (42-3), who upset the previously undefeated Giovann
i Lorenzo (26-1) in an explosive 12 round affair. The judges all scoring the fight 114-113.
Also fighting in Memphis, the vacant WBC welterweight title that Floyd Mayweather vacated was up for grabs between Andre Berto (22-0) and Miguel Rodriguez (29-3). Andre Berto started off slow, with Rodriguez taking some of Berto’s straight rights far too easily before tasting the floor in the seventh round.
With increased pressure from Berto, the referee in a controversial manner stopped the fight at 2.13 in the seventh round, with Rodriguez appearing to fully defend himself and ready to carry on fighting.
On the undercard, a possible new heavyweight champion in the making Chirs Areloa (24-0) defeated Chazz Whitherspoon (23-1) via a third round disqualification. Having been dropped twice in the third round, his corner came into the ring to help their fighter, prompting the disqualification decision.
Also, contrary to recent reports, Alexanda Abraham was not involved in any incident after the fight, he was arrested on suspicion of assault after a claim from Team Miranda, which was later dropped and Team Abraham paid the $100 admin fee and returned to Germany in high spirits to continue celebrate their victory.