Arthur Abraham vs. Carl Froch & undercard RBR

Round 1

Piispanen is leaning to his right and tossing jabs at the chin of the taller man, and bringing some overhand rights around from the blind side. The Spanish fighter circles and pumps his longer left jab but is slower on the trigger and in resetting his hands to avoid the counter jab of Piispanen. They clinch up for the first time near the end of the round and then immediately do so again as Piispanen slips a Rasilla jab.

10-9 champ

 

Round 2

Rasilla misses a big sweeping hook as Piispanen hops off his toes in reverse. Piispanen bobs on the inside and thrusts his jab into the chest and throat of the challenger. Rasilla's jab is sailing wide due to Piispanen's movement. Piispanen is defending effectively but has limited his own output to windmill right hands that Rasilla is able to avoid. They get back into a jabbing contest at close range and begin to clinch frequently. Piispanen again slips several punches at mid-range, looking to blast his way in and landing a nice left hook after missing a lead uppercut. Piispanen is able to back Rasilla up whenever he pours on his power punches but isn't landing many of them while moving forward.

Closer round. 20-18 Piispanen

 

Yes. It's for the European (EBU) light welterweight title.

So is Helenius vs. Levin.

 

Round 3

Rasilla seems to only be able to execute on one plane, while Piispanen constantly changes levels and ducks under Rasilla's jabs. Piispanen is actually quite slick, utilizing good reflexes and fluid movement of his feet, waist, shoulders and head. The one knock is that he is too shy in the counter-punching role when he clearly has the edge in hand-speed and also backs Rasilla up with all his heavier blows. He's definitely winning the round, zipping in to land a couple of straight punches or a slapping lead hook and then weaving his way out. Rasilla is letting his hands go but just doesn't have the timing or quickness to find the bullseye.

30-27 Piispanen

 

Round 4

Rasilla starts pumping his jab in the center of the ring, but the lack of snap or mean intentions on it combined with Piispanen's elusiveness make it more of a range-finder than anything. Piispanen is leaning in and firing his quick up-jab into Rasilla's face and then leaning back out of the pocket before Rasilla can catch him with anything. Piispanen follows a flush jab with a body shot. Rasilla is dropping his arms on Piispanen on the inside and the referee has to break up a few clinches. Rasilla throws hard but slow combos, finishing with a left hook that skims past Piispanen's body. Rasilla is really getting rattled with the quick, stiff left jab through his gloves. Rasilla lands a double left hook to the body but his follow-up 1-2 down the middle is blocked.

40-36 Piispanen