The Boxing Tribune, UK
Sept 28 2014
Horrid Judging Allows Arthur Abraham to Beat Underdog Paul Smith
Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany- Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs)
survived a truly tough challenge from unheralded British challenger,
Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) with more than a touch of home-style scoring
Saturday in Germany via scores of 117-111, 117-111, and an utterly
outrageous 119-109. The scores in this unanimous decision were not
representative of this fight, which The Boxing Tribune scored a
114-114 draw.
Up until the seventh round or so, this second defense of Abraham’s WBO
super middleweight title looked like a typical Arthur Abraham bout.
The Armenia-born German kept himself safe with a high-guard defense
and stole rounds with brief, pinpoint bursts of heavy-handed activity.
However, Smith held strong and worked to move around Abraham’s
offensive bursts, digging shots to the defending champ’s body whenever
possible.
By the eighth round, Abraham was breathing heavily and not pursuing
much of a fight at all. Smith came on stronger as rounds passed and
Abraham would breathe harder, throw less, and stand more flatfooted as
time advanced.
Abraham finished the fight with a solid twelfth round that, on The
Boxing Tribune’s unofficial scorecard, saved him his title. However,
the judges were viewing a one-sided affair all along and gave the
veteran champion the decision.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
