Arthur Abraham (previously 29-0) was always the favourite in the run up to this fight. While Mahir 'the Lion' Oral presented a decent challenge to Abraham as he was a genuine world ranked middleweight, 'King' Arthur had mixed in better company than his foe, and he was looking forward to bigger and better things.
However, overlooking Oral completely would have been a big mistake. Oral had only been handed one defeat in his entire career, and coming into the fight he was extremely confident. In addition, it is no secret that Abraham has been struggling to make the middleweight limit for at least a year now, and if he was coming into the fight weight drained then there was always a possibility that Mahir would be able to capitalise on this.
The Fight
Rounds 1, 2 and 3 definitely belonged to Oral. He utilised his jab well, focussed on speed, and mixed up his shots, bamboozling Abraham with combinations. However, this kind of start was nothing new to Abraham as he has always quite notoriously given away early rounds, as in the early stages of the fight, he seems to like to figure his opponents out before committing to any major attacks.
In round 4, Abraham exploded into life, putting Oral down with a flurry of punches. Unfortunately for Abraham though, he wasn't able to finish Oral, as 'the Lion' recovered well from the knockdown and pulled through the round. This was Abraham's first real offensive burst, and after this, the writing was on the wall that Abraham could unload with these combinations at any point, and Mahir was on borrowed time.
To Oral's credit though, he never stopped trying to win. In the fifth, he came out jabbing once again; trying to use his speed to his advantage. At one point in the round though, Oral hit the canvas. It was given as a slip by the referee, but it could arguably have been given as a knockdown as it seemed to have been forced by a combination by Abraham.
Regardless of whether that was a slip or not though, the knockdown Arthur achieved in round six was not debatable. A fantastic right straight between the gloves of Oral sent the German down to the canvas once again. This round was most definitely Abraham's , but there was a case to only give him a 10-9 round, as for the other two and a half minutes, Oral did really well and outboxed Abraham comprehensively.
Rounds 7, 8 and 9 were fairly uneventful but Abraham was generally imposing himself on Oral by this point. At this juncture in the fight, the difference in power was plain to see, and Oral seemed feather fisted compared to Arthur who looked like he could KO Mahir every time he landed with either hand.
Round 10 turned out to be the final round of the fight, with three knockdowns to boot. A left hook put Oral down for the third time in the fight, and after this, it seemed like the 'Lion' had been tamed by 'King' Arthur. Mahir took a knee twice more and after the fifth knockdown, his corner threw in the towel and put him out of his misery.
Where Now For Abraham And Oral?
Arthur Abraham (30-0) will now look for a potentially mouthwatering clash against Kelly Pavlik in the winter or a bout against fellow German Felix Sturm at around the same time period. Considering his troubles making the middleweight limit, these will probably be Abraham's last fights before moving up to super middleweight, where there are many options open to him.
Mahir Oral (25-2) put in a very respectable shift tonight and lost to arguably the best middleweight in the world right now. There is absolutely no shame in that, and at a European level he can be a very dangerous opponent.
In conclusion, while Abraham's patient, defensive style wins him no friends, he gets the job done at the end of the day, and his class was evident against a decent opponent in Mahir Oral. He has power in both hands and the potential to cause both Pavlik and Sturm significant problems if those big fights do materialise.
