Abraham Unification in US

Ha. Not a slip, I'm just dumb. Thanks for the correction.

 

Again, I don't follow. Hopkins was the champ, Taylor beat Hopkins and rematched him, then went along from there. At what point can the belt transfer without some sort of outside-the-ring monkeybusiness? Rematching the long-standing champ isn't political; it's competitive and prudent.

You seem to endorse stripping the champ for doing just that. For what it's worth, virtually no one in the international boxing community would agree with your take. Abraham is a paper beltholder and a contender for the real title, nothing more.

I don't dispute Ottke's reputation within Germany. It's his international rep that's a joke. The worst part is, from what I've seen, he actually was a very good fighter. Not exciting, and not capable of beating a true elite, but deserving of better treatment than he gets. He had too many close calls, and everyone who has seen the Reid fight (I haven't) says it's one of the most gross injustices ever in terms of refereeing. Calzaghe has ensured that he won't be remembered that way because of the Lacy and Kessler fights.

Again, it's fine if Abraham wants to stay in Germany. But if he's serious about becoming a true champion, he needs to fight somewhere else or just stop talking about it altogether. It's that simple.

 

Btw: According to a Swiss website, Abraham will earn more then 1 million Euro (which translates into 1.5 million Dollar) for his voluntary defence of the IBF belt versus Wayne Elcock...

This is about the budget of a whole HBO BAD show...crazy...

 

Interesting post,lampley! You made some good points,but all in all I quite disagree with you.
I am not going to talk about Ottke as he has been the main character of a lot of threads here on esb.

Abraham has to fight somewhere else(outside Germany) or just stop talking about it altogether.The same could be said about Pavlik and Taylor.
Pavlik is a great fighter,and I am glad that we have such an exciting fighter at his weight division.Nevertheless apart from Taylor and Miranda he has only beaten a bunch of very limited fighters.Apart from Taylor Abraham has the better skalps in his record.
The best cruiser weight fighters are either europeans or european based boxers.To win some fights in the USA doesnt mean ****.You have to fly over to europe to in order to become a big shot and showcase your skills here.
The USA isnt the mecca of boxing anymore.A lot of megafights are staged outside the USA.Whats more important you can earn really big bucks here in Europe-especially in Germany.
Abraham is a big shot in Germany.He has a proven track record.He is a great champ.I dont know whether he can beat Pavlik or Taylor.Nodoby knowns this for certain.We can speculate on the outcome of the aforementioned fights.
I for my part dont give a damn whether a biased US mag like "The Ring" considers Pavlik to be the number 1 at middle weight or not.
The international boxing community consists of a lot of nationalities.
The USA is still one of the most important pro fight markets on this planet,but other countries are getting bigger and bigger.Apart from a handful of fighters an average pro fighter probably earns more money in Germany than in the USA.The USA isnt the mecca of boxing anymore!
You like a lot of American posters tend to keep saying that in order to be generally recognised as a great champ foreign fighters have to travel to the USA.Do you really think that any top cruiser fighter really has to fight in the USA to be called an elite fighter?

 

Apart from the politics of who should fight where, I do believe that Abraham could very well be the 2nd best current middleweight behind Pavlik. He easily controlled the first four rounds against Miranda, looking very comfortable. Of course he paid dearly for his stupid mistake, but finishing a fight with a broken jaw is quite something. He has a terrible habit of dropping his hands to showboat, when he doesn't do that, he actually has a very tight defense. His power and physical resilience are amazing. Taylor has better speed and is a lot flashier, but Abraham is mentally stronger and never gets nervous, has much better balance and stamina. Taylor might hurt him early, but if he Abraham gets better late in the fight, much like Pavlik he doesn't seem to tire. I pick Pavlik to beat him, because he is even stronger physically than Abraham but it would be a good fight to watch.

 

Odo, I don't think we actually disagree as much as you think. I do not believe at all that fighters need to come to the United States. If the Cruisers want to conduct their affairs in Europe and force any American challengers to fight them on their home turf, I'm all for it. And internationalization of the sport is a great thing.

However, in Abraham's case, my point was that he is not an actual champion, and if he wants to be a champion, he's going to have to show up in the United States in order to force a fight with Pavlik (or someone who beats Pavlik). I'm not saying it should be that way, but it *is* that way, and any notion to the contrary is foolhardy. He can't talk about the true championship unless he's willing leave Germany.