I can see the light! Or is it just the reflection from Arthur Abraham’s chrome dome? No, it’s definitely the light. The professional boxing drought of the last month is about to end. Sound the train horns attached to scooters! Hallelujah! Abraham’s super middleweight bout with Robert Stieglitz is about the best thing going on this week, but there are various other televised happenings, too.
- Arthur Abraham vs. Robert Stieglitz, Saturday, Berlin. I’m not dying to know the answers to the questions this all-European super middleweight title bout poses. Abraham (34-3) showed in Showtime’s Super Six tournament that he’s limited and unable to beat the best at super middleweight, so I’m not excited to learn how he fares at the next level down. Stieglitz (42-2) has faced a roll call of middling foes after winning his title in 2009 and has never appeared to be anything more than an average fighter, so I don’t care to see whether he can beat a past-it Abraham. More than that, I doubt he can. Stieglitz doesn’t have the defence, boxing acumen and footwork that Abraham’s previous conquerors possessed. His most recent fight, a lackadaisical outing against the shopworn Nader Hamdan, only highlighted how easy the Germany based Russian is to hit and how little stopping power he enjoys. Abraham, reminiscent of a garden gnome with his stubby arms and complete lack of movement for the first six rounds, will be able to find Stieglitz easily with his inventory of hooks. Stieglitz, for his part, lacks the imagination to find the holes in the Armenian’s high guard and will probably lose a wide decision or get knocked out late.
- Randy Caballero vs. Manuel Roman, Friday, Showtime, Indio Calif. Southern Californian bantamweight prospect Randy Caballero (15-0) isn’t quite making that big step up, but he’s getting closer with a bout against Manuel Roman (15-1-3) on Showtime on Friday. Roman has had a patchy career with various spells of inactivity since 2004. Caballero’s name means “randy cowboy” so it’s hard not to get behind that. On the undercard, Puerto Rican American lightweight prospect Michael “The Artist” Perez (16-1-1) faces Fidel Maldonado, Jr. (13-1), who’s coming off a knockout loss. Perez himself is one win removed from a stoppage loss (also on ShoBox) to Omar Figueroa. I like Perez’ style, but he seems to lack an identity in the ring — Figueroa and TQBR favourite Jose Hernandez were both able to drag him into brawls when he should have been boxing. Maldonado, a not particularly graceful southpaw, will try and do the same thing.
- The Rest. Mexican middleweight superstar Julio Cesar Chave,z Jr. will be the subject of one of HBO’s “2 Days” mini documentaries, premiering on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if the filmmakers tackle the suspicious, alleged lack of drug testing in his bout against Andy Lee. The “Face Off” segment between Chavez and Sergio Martinez will premiere directly after. [UPDATE: We left out Saturday’s “24/7 Road To Ward/Dawson,” a one-time HBO special in advance of the Sept. 8 bout between super middleweights Andre and Chad, respectively. Ward is charismatic. Making Dawson interesting could be a challenge, but he has been showing a bit more fire of late. — Ed.]… Mexican junior welterweights Roberto Ortiz (25-0-1) and Florencio Castellano (17-5-0) do battle in Tulum, Mexico on Fox Deportes on Saturday. I’d like to imagine that it will be on top of the beautiful pyramids, “Predator” style, but it’s actually at the “Domo Deportivo”… Meanwhile on TeleFutura, welterweights Alan Sanchez (10-2-1) and Manuel Leyva (21-7-0) will square off. Leyva is 1-7 in his last eight fights, so I think I know how this movie ends.
