Unification Fight Between Arthur and Pavlik
Date: 2008-10-07 01:15:30
Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hiVyUuh78EPWCI...
Submitted By: Explosive Fight Videos
"King" Arthur Abraham is hoping for a mouth-watering unification title fight against Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik with the two undefeated middleweights set to clash at the end of the year. IBF middleweight champion Abraham saw off US challenger Elvin Ayala with a twelfth round knock-out in Kiel, Germany, on Saturday night to claim his seventh title defence and Abraham is now set to fight over in America. A June date has been pencilled in against an unnamed opponent and Abraham is targeting a fight with WBO and WBC middleweight champion Pavlik in December this year or January 2009. Ayala - the self-styled "Wrath of God" - felt the full force of Abraham in Kiel taking several huge hits to the head before an upper cut to the chin left the American crumpled on the canvas with just 28 seconds left in the twelfth. Undefeated Abraham, who now has 21 knock-outs from 26 wins, is willing to risk his title against Pavlik's unblemished record of 33 wins with 29 of those victories coming via knockout. "Arthur will box on June 21 in the USA," said manager Wilfried Sauerland. "There is an obligatory defence planned for September in Germany. "Afterwards we have an agreement in the USA against Kelly Pavlik to fight in January or December." And after another controlled performance where Abraham soaked up Ayala's punches before unleashing plenty of his own punishment, "King Arthur" is looking forward to conquering the United States. "Kiel was bigger for me than New York, but now that's over, I am looking for a big fight in the United States later this year," said Abraham. "I want to show the fans there what I can do." After two run-of-the-mill defences against Wayne Elcock and Arminian Khoren Gevor in his last two fights, Abraham did not have things his own way as usual against Ayala. The American took several big hits, but showed enough strength to put the champion under pressure and pin him to the corner in the tenth round. "I had the whole thing under control," said Abraham later with a smile. "I had the tactics to tire him during the round and then attack hard in the minute leading up to the bell. "I waited and my chance came at 2:32 in round 12. The end is well-known."