Boxer Abraham is from which country? Arthur Abraham: In a year or a year and a half I will leave boxing

Armenian professional boxer, performing in the Middleweight category. He is the current IBF world champion. Winner of the title of Inter-Continental World Champion (Inter-Continental Title) among professionals in the middle weight category according to the WBA. Laureate of the medal of the Armed Forces of Armenia “Andranik Ozanyan” (since June 1, 2007).

Trains with Ulli Wegner. Promoter: Wilfred Sauerland.

He received German citizenship in 2006 by passing a German language exam. Avetik Abrahamyan has lived in Germany since 2004.

Arthur Abraham combines his professional career with commentating activities on the German television channel ARD. For example, he commentated on the fight between WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev and American Monty Barrett live.

Professional career

Arthur Abraham began his professional career on August 16, 2003 with a fight against German Frank Kari Roth, whose record at that time included one win, one draw and one defeat. The start of his professional career was successful for Arthur - he won by technical knockout in the third round.

Arthur had his first title fight against Nader Hamdan for the Inter-Continental Title among professionals in the middle weight category according to the WBA. This was the thirteenth fight in Arthur's career, in which Arthur won by technical knockout in the twelfth round. Subsequently, Arthur successfully defended the title of intercontinental champion three times.

Winning the world title

At the end of 2005, the IBF world title was declared vacant due to the refusal of the current champion German Taylor to conduct his mandatory defense. At that time, Arthur Abraham occupied sixth place in the IBF ranking, however, it was he who became a contender for the world champion belt, since all the boxers ranked above him were already bound by contracts for other fights.

Arthur won the world champion title among professionals in the middle weight category according to the IBF on December 10, 2005 in a fight against the Nigerian Kingsley Ikeke. The twelve-round fight ended in the fifth round with a knockout of the Nigerian.

Title defense against Shannan Taylor

On March 4, 2006, Arthur Abraham made his first world title defense against Australian Shannan Taylor. At that time, Shennan had fought 48 fights, scoring 42 victories. Throughout the fight, Abraham had an advantage, but he failed to knock out his opponent. At the end of twelve rounds, all judges gave preference to the representative of Armenia by a large margin: 120:106, 120:107 and 120:107

Title defense against Kofi Yantua

Two months after his first world title defense, on May 13, 2006, Arthur Abraham made his second title defense against Kofi Yantua of Ghana, who at the time of the fight had fought 33 fights with 30 wins. In this fight, Arthur Abraham won a landslide victory by unanimous decision: 117-109, 116-111 and 115-112. It should be noted that in the seventh round a point was deducted from Arthur for a blow to the back of the head.

Belt defense against Edison Miranda

Throughout the fight, Miranda had the advantage - he attacked more often and hit more. In the fifth round he broke Arthur's jaw. However, Arthur survived until the end of the fight and won it by unanimous decision (116-109, 115-109 and 114-109). During the fight, Miranda lost five points for rule violations: two points were deducted from him for an intentional headbutt in the fifth round, and three more for low blows in the seventh and eleventh rounds.

A professional boxer of Armenian origin living in Germany and competing under its flag Arthur Abraham (Avetik Abrahamyan)– a well-known and authoritative personality in the world of sports. Almost everyone knows him as an outstanding boxer of our time, but few people know that he was fond of cycling as a child, moreover, he was a multiple champion of Armenia.

Abraham made a name for himself in the world of boxing in 2005, when he first won the IBF world middleweight title, knocking out a Nigerian Kingsley Ikeke.

He retained the champion title until 2009. He is often called by his ringing name "King Arthur". Former world champion in super middleweight professional boxing according to WBO version Arthur Abraham fought 52 fights in the professional ring, suffering only 6 defeats. He has 46 victories. The German authoritative publication Box Sport recognized Abraham as the best boxer in Germany for seven years in a row. He occupied leading positions in world rankings.

Despite the fact that Abraham competes in Germany, he is also the pride of Armenian sports. For Armenians, he is more than just a boxer performing in professional rings. He became one of the symbols of national prestige, like a boxer Vic Darchinyan, Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, great chansonnier Charles Aznavour and others. Hence the awards awarded to him - the medal of the Armed Forces of Armenia “Andranik Ozanyan” (2007), the medal “For Services to the Fatherland” 1st degree (2011) and an honorary citizen of Yerevan (2015).

37-year-old Abraham at London's Wembley Stadium in July 2017 lost in a fight for the IBO super middleweight world title with the British Chris Eubank. However, before this, in April of this year, Abraham defeated the 30-year-old German by unanimous decision Robina Krasniqi, thereby gaining the opportunity to have a rematch over the Mexican Gelbert Rodriguez.

Will a rematch take place in the near future, what are the plans of the world-famous boxer, how does he feel about modern trends in sports in terms of its gradual merging with politics and when does he intend to leave boxing? I tried to get answers to these questions in an exclusive interview with Arthur Abraham.

Mr. Abraham, in April of this year you received the opportunity to have a rematch against Mexican Gelbert Rodriguez. Will this fight take place, are negotiations ongoing?

Yes, you are right, such a possibility has arisen, but so far there has been no definite and clear decision regarding any fight. We are holding negotiations and discussions, much will be clear in February next year... At the moment I cannot name the names of potential opponents or the time of any fight.

Recently, the German publications MDR Thuringen and Thuringer Allgemeine reported that German law enforcement agencies are checking famous boxers Karo Murat and Arthur Abraham for connections with the mafia. Please tell me what kind of checks you are talking about? Why is your name mentioned in this story?

I don't know anything about this. I was not present in the incident that took place on the day of the fight in the German city of Erfurt (according to German publications, in April 2017, after defeating Robin Krasniqi in Erfurt, Abraham decided to celebrate the victory in one of the restaurants in the city. At the door he spoke with the Gevork brothers and Aram A. Both of them are under investigation for their participation in the shootout - ed.) and have nothing to do with this.

Mr. Abraham, I cannot help but touch upon the topic of sanctions of the International Olympic Committee, according to which the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee in the international structure is suspended, which led to a ban on the participation of the Russian team at the 2018 Olympics under the national flag. How would you comment on this decision? Do you see political overtones in it? How correct is it to deprive Russian athletes of the opportunity to compete at the Olympics under the flag of their state?

I personally would like the Russian national team to compete at the Olympics. They are strong and worthy of participating in the Olympics as a team. Of course, without doping. I think some sanctions could have been applied, but it was not worth depriving Russian athletes of the opportunity to participate in the 2018 Olympics under the national flag.

There is a lot of talk about the influence of such phenomena as doping and big politics on sports. In your opinion, what role do these non-sports factors play in modern sports?

I really want sport to be far from politics or its influence, and athletes to be far from doping. It’s sad and disappointing when you train hard, do everything to win, invest yourself fully in this process, but then for completely different reasons you don’t take part in the championship or suffer defeat. This is very disappointing.

In the professional ring you compete under the German flag. If you look from the outside, what is the state of boxing in Armenia? Why can’t we talk about tangible development of this sport here? What is the problem? Lack of finances or professionalism?

I can say that in Armenia a lot is being done to improve the situation in the field of boxing. There are also obvious results. In my opinion, it is necessary for the athletes themselves to train a lot and hard, hold various fights on site, and then take part in international tournaments and win... This is how a boxer and boxing in general develops.

Let's talk about your daily routine. You continue to practice boxing. How much time do you spend training? Boxing is a dangerous sport and injuries are always possible. How does your family feel about your training and fighting?

I don't train during rest periods. There are no restrictions in my diet. I don't drink alcohol under any circumstances. Before each fight, I train for several months twice a day for three hours, which includes running and swimming. That is, I do not only purely boxing, but also other sports. Yes, you are right, boxing is a dangerous sport, but all this has become familiar to me. The family, both in the past and now, are worried about me in boxing. Before every fight I notice tension and concern. But it’s too late, I won’t give up boxing, despite the health risks.

Last question. Have you thought about leaving professional boxing? Do you have a goal, after achieving which you will consider that you have done enough and leave the professional ring? What does boxing mean to you - is it a hobby, a job, a favorite sport or something else?

Yes, in a year or a year and a half I will leave boxing. However, before that I must win the world title again. Boxing is my life. I also love football, but if I had the opportunity to make a choice again, I would choose boxing without hesitation.

Interviewed Arshaluys Mgdesyan

Arthur Abraham is a famous German boxer of Armenian origin. He is making tangible progress in the sports field and in 2012 became the world champion in super middleweight. German fans and friends lovingly call Abraham “King Arthur.” In 2013, the athlete lost the championship title to his eternal rival Robert Stieglitz, and in the next year, 2014, he returned it again. After that, he confirmed his right to own the champion belt with successful fights with Montenegrin Nikola Sjeklocha, Paul Smith and Martin Murray. In 2015, Arthur Abraham's wife, Mary, came to Germany.

They got married during one of the breaks between matches and 36-year-old Abraham considers himself a happy man. Mary Abraham is Armenian, she lived in Yerevan and studied at Yerevan State University. The future spouses were introduced by the boxer's friends. He often visits his homeland and during his visits he observes the national tradition: he visits, if possible, all the people close to him. This rule became the key to the family happiness of “King Arthur”: this is how he found his queen. The wedding of Arthur and Mary was a beautiful festive occasion, full of flowers, friends, surprises and joys.

Arthur is not yet able, no matter how much he would like it, to spend much time with his family: he travels for eight months a year. Training camps, training sessions and matches take a lot of time, effort and nerves. In one of his revelations to reporters, he said that after the end of the contract he was not going to extend the athlete’s career. All he needs to achieve is to regain the champion title that was taken from him at the beginning of 2016 by Mexican boxer Gilberto Ramirez, whom no one has yet managed to defeat. Abraham devoted his free time to his young wife. He happily showed Mary Europe, who was expecting a child, around.

On July 16, 2016, Arthur Abraham fought his 50th fight and won by knockout for the 30th time. He was very worried about the outcome of the battle for the most valid reasons: a long-awaited son was born in the Abraham family in Germany, named, according to tradition, Grigor in honor of Arthur’s father. Giving an interview to a NEWS.am Sport correspondent, the athlete admitted that he takes his wife’s position to heart and constantly calls her from training camp to find out about the well-being, mood and condition of Mary and their child. The boxer openly and sincerely rejoices at his fatherhood and is “insanely happy,” listing that his son was born 21 cm tall and weighed 3.6 kg. It turns out that they are planning to have at least four children in their family: three boys and a girl.

Both Arthur and Mary are determined to maintain constant contact with their homeland. They both plan to visit Armenia often and raise their children with love and respect for the national culture, history, and traditions. Arthur maintains constant contact with the sports committee of Armenia, dreams of opening a boxing sports school in Yerevan and visiting there as often as possible: in Armenia he “rests his soul.” There is no doubt that Arthur Abraham's beautiful wife shares his feelings with all her heart.

Arthur Abraham showed interest in various sports from early childhood. At first he was interested in cycling and Arthur became the champion of Armenia in this sport, but in 1995 the family moved to the German city of Bamberg, and there Arthur decided to focus on boxing. In the late 1990s, he returned to Armenia for several years, where he continued to practice boxing under the guidance of Armen Hovhannisyan and Derenik Voskanyan. From 1999 to 2003, Abraham became the Armenian amateur champion three times, but did not compete at the international level. During those same years, he served in the Armenian army and received a higher legal education. In 2003, Arthur Abraham returned to Germany and, having signed a contract with the famous promoter Wilfried Sauerland, began his professional career.

Professional career

Arthur Abraham began his professional career on August 16, 2003 with a fight against German Frank Kari Roth, whose record at that time included one win, one draw and one defeat. The start of his professional career was successful for Arthur - he won by technical knockout in the third round.

Arthur had his first title fight against Nader Hamdan for the Inter-Continental Title among professionals in the middle weight category according to the WBA. This was the thirteenth fight in Abraham's career, in which he won by technical knockout in the twelfth round. Subsequently, Arthur successfully defended the title of intercontinental champion three times.

Winning the world title

At the end of 2005, the IBF world title in the professional middleweight category was declared vacant due to the refusal of the current champion German Taylor to conduct his mandatory defense. At that time, Arthur Abraham occupied sixth place in the MBF ranking, however, it was he who became a contender for the world champion belt, since all the boxers ranked above him were already bound by contracts for other fights.

Arthur won the title of professional world champion in the middle weight category according to the MBF on December 10, 2005 in a fight against the Nigerian Kingsley Ikeke. The twelve-round fight ended in the fifth round with a knockout of the Nigerian.

Title defense against Shannan Taylor

On March 4, 2006, Arthur Abraham made his first world title defense against Australian Shannan Taylor. At that time, Shennan had fought 48 fights, scoring 42 victories. Throughout the fight, Abraham had an advantage, but he failed to knock out his opponent. At the end of twelve rounds, all judges gave preference to the representative of Armenia: 120:106, 120:107 and 120:107.

Title defense against Kofi Yantua

Two months after his first world title defense, on May 13, 2006, Arthur Abraham made his second title defense against Kofi Yantua of Ghana, who at the time of the fight had fought 33 fights with 30 wins. In this fight, Arthur Abraham won a landslide victory by unanimous decision: 117-109, 116-111 and 115-112. It should be noted that in the seventh round a point was deducted from Arthur for a blow to the back of the head.

Belt defense against Edison Miranda

On September 23, 2006, Arthur Abraham made his third title defense against mandatory challenger Colombian Edison Miranda. The challenger, who had not known defeat at that time, actively began the fight, but the champion did not sit back on the defensive. In the fourth round, Abraham was close to knocking out Miranda, but missed a counter blow, which led to a double jaw fracture due to the fact that Arthur had his mouth open at that moment. In the fifth round, Miranda delivered a deliberate headbutt to Abraham, which aggravated the injury and led to increased bleeding. The fight was stopped. The referee in the ring deducted 2 points from Miranda for the headbutt, but refused to disqualify him, since it was not this blow that caused Arthur's jaw fracture. Thus, refusal to continue the fight meant for Abraham a loss by technical knockout and, after consulting with the coach, Arthur decided to continue the fight despite the serious injury and severe bleeding. In the remaining seven rounds, Miranda had the advantage, but Abraham skillfully defended himself and sometimes even successfully counterattacked. In the seventh and eleventh rounds, the judge deducted 3 more points from Miranda for low blows. As a result, at the end of the 12th round, by unanimous decision of the judges, victory on points was awarded to Abraham. Immediately after the end of the battle, Arthur was taken to the hospital, where he was operated on. Titanium plates were inserted into his jaw and he was able to resume light training only after a few weeks, and return to sparring only after three months.

This fight and its result caused a wide resonance in the world of professional boxing. Since the decision of the judges seemed dubious to many, it was decided to hold a repeat fight between these boxers, which took place a year and a half later.

Belt defense against Sebastian Demers

Arthur Abraham made his fourth defense of the belt against Canadian Sebastian Demers, who by that time had twenty successful fights and was ranked 27th in the world rankings. In the third round, Arthur Abraham knocked down his opponent, after which the referee intervened and stopped the fight, recording the champion's victory by technical knockout.

June 21, 2008 Arthur Abraham - Edison Miranda (2nd fight)

• Venue: Seminole Hard Rock, Hollywood, Florida, USA
• Result: Abraham wins by TKO in the 4th round in a 12-round fight
• Status: Rating battle
• Referee: Telis Assimenios
• Time: 1:13
• Weight: Abraham 75.30 kg; Miranda 74.80 kg
• Broadcast: Showtime

In June 2008, the 2nd fight took place between Edison Miranda and Arthur Abraham. There were no titles at stake as the fight took place at 2nd middleweight. At the end of the 2nd round, Miranda landed a left uppercut to the groin. The referee stopped the fight and gave Abraham a break. In the middle of the 4th round, Abraham made a counter left cross and the Colombian was knocked down. He stood at the count of 6. Abraham rushed to finish off his opponent. He threw a left hook and Miranda fell to the canvas. The Colombian again stood at the count of 6. Abraham immediately threw a left hook, and Miranda again lost his footing. The referee stopped the fight without opening the score. The Colombian was on the floor for more than a minute.

March 14, 2009 Arthur Abraham - Lajuan Simon

Germany, Kiel, Ostseehalle Abraham started the fight in his traditional style, blocking most of his opponent’s blows. Thanks to this, the fight turned out to be quite equal. Starting from the fifth round, Arthur began to increase his momentum, alternating bright bursts of activity with deliberate inaction - this was quite enough for him to gain points on the judges' notes. Sometimes Simon was successful, but most of the time Abraham had the advantage, which predetermined his victory on points by unanimous decision: 117-110, 118-109 and 117-110.

June 27, 2009 Arthur Abraham - Mahir Oral

Arthur Abraham made his tenth defense of the championship title against the German boxer of Turkish origin Mahir Oral. The start of the fight was left to Oral, who did not shy away from his more eminent opponent and worked as number one. However, already in the fourth round there was a turning point: Abraham delivered a strong blow to the right, after which Oral found himself in a heavy knockdown and barely survived until the end of the three minutes. In the fifth round, he managed to recover and quite successfully resisted the champion’s attacks, but already in the sixth round he again found himself on the floor and again barely survived until the end of the round. In the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds, Abraham began to be more active, trying to find a gap in Oral's defense and landing a large number of power shots. At the very beginning of the tenth round, Oral dropped to his knee after missing several punches, and the referee began counting him down. The challenger managed to get up, but Abraham did not stop his attacks and knocked Oral down twice more, after which the challenger’s corner threw in the towel and refused to continue the fight.

Refusal of the championship belt and transition to the second middleweight

After holding the IBF world title for almost four years, Arthur Abraham was never able to get the coveted fight to unify the middleweight championship belts with title holders in other boxing organizations. In mid-2009, he decided to give up his championship belt and, moving to a heavier weight category, take part in the prestigious Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament, the winner of which could become the owner of championship belts in two of the four major boxing organizations.

October 17, 2009 Arthur Abraham - Jermaine Taylor

Arthur Abraham made his super middleweight and Super Six World Boxing Classic debut against former multi-title middleweight Jermain Taylor. This fight took place with a noticeable advantage of Abraham, and in the twelfth round, with a powerful blow to the right, he was able to knock out Taylor into a deep knockout, after which the American boxer was taken to the hospital with a concussion, and subsequently refused further participation in the “Super Six World Boxing Classic”. This success allowed Arthur Abraham to become for some time the sole leader of the tournament, according to the rules of which an early victory is valued higher than a victory by decision of the judges and brings not two but three points.

March 27, 2010 Arthur Abraham - Andre Dirrell

Arthur Abraham's second opponent in the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament was American boxer Andre Dirrell. The fight was originally scheduled to take place on March 6 in California, but Dirrell, citing a back injury, managed to move the fight to March 27, and also hold it in Dirrell's home state of Michigan. Abraham, in his typical manner, was somewhat passive in the first half of the fight, allowing the American boxer to dominate the ring, but towards the end of the fight, realizing that he was losing on points, he seized the initiative. In the 10th round, after his accurate blow, Dirrell was knocked down, but despite the obvious knockdown, the referee in the ring did not open the scoring. In the 11th round, carried away by the attack, Abraham struck a blow to the unprotected head of the American who slipped and fell on his knee, after which he fell and lay for a long time, covering his head with gloves. The fight was stopped and after some time, ring announcer Jimmy Lennon announced that, due to Abraham's disqualification, the victory was awarded to Dirrell. This decision was discussed for a long time in the world of professional boxing and caused many conflicting responses. Abraham's team tried to protest it and declare the fight over without announcing the result on the grounds that the referee, in their opinion, acted biased and unskilled, did not count Dirrell's knockdown, which he suffered in the tenth round, did not issue him warnings for low blows and finally did not stop the fight at the moment when the American slipped. However, the result of the fight was not revised.

Battle results

2012-03-31 168 Piotr Wilczewski 167? 30-2-0 Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany W UD 12 12 referee: Manuel Maritxalar | judge: Ingo Barrabas 119-108 | judge: Zoltan Enyedi 118-109 | judge: Michael Loewe 118-109 WBO European super middleweight title (supervisor: Dennis Gilmartin) Wilczewski deducted a point in the seventh round

Winner of the title of Inter-Continental World Champion (Inter-Continental Title) among professionals in the middle weight category according to the WBA. Laureate of the medal of the Armed Forces of Armenia “Andranik Ozanyan” (since June 1, 2007).

Armenian professional boxer, performing in the Middleweight category. He is the current IBF world champion. Winner of the title of Inter-Continental World Champion (Inter-Continental Title) among professionals in the middle weight category according to the WBA. Laureate of the medal of the Armed Forces of Armenia “Andranik Ozanyan” (since June 1, 2007).

Trains with Ulli Wegner. Promoter: Wilfred Sauerland.

He received German citizenship in 2006 by passing a German language exam. Avetik Abrahamyan has lived in Germany since 2004.

Arthur Abraham combines his professional career with commentating activities on the German television channel ARD. For example, he commentated on the fight between WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev and American Monty Barrett live.

Professional career

Arthur Abraham began his professional career on August 16, 2003 with a fight against German Frank Kari Roth, whose record at that time included one win, one draw and one defeat. The start of his professional career was successful for Arthur - he won by technical knockout in the third round.

Arthur had his first title fight against Nader Hamdan for the Inter-Continental Title among professionals in the middle weight category according to the WBA. This was the thirteenth fight in Arthur's career, in which Arthur won by technical knockout in the twelfth round. Subsequently, Arthur successfully defended the title of intercontinental champion three times.

Winning the world title

At the end of 2005, the IBF world title was declared vacant due to the refusal of the current champion German Taylor to conduct his mandatory defense. At that time, Arthur Abraham occupied sixth place in the IBF ranking, however, it was he who became a contender for the world champion belt, since all the boxers ranked above him were already bound by contracts for other fights.

Arthur won the world champion title among professionals in the middle weight category according to the IBF on December 10, 2005 in a fight against the Nigerian Kingsley Ikeke. The twelve-round fight ended in the fifth round with a knockout of the Nigerian.

Title defense against Shannan Taylor

On March 4, 2006, Arthur Abraham made his first world title defense against Australian Shannan Taylor. At that time, Shennan had fought 48 fights, scoring 42 victories. Throughout the fight, Abraham had an advantage, but he failed to knock out his opponent. At the end of twelve rounds, all judges gave preference to the representative of Armenia by a large margin: 120:106, 120:107 and 120:107

Title defense against Kofi Yantua

Two months after his first world title defense, on May 13, 2006, Arthur Abraham made his second title defense against Kofi Yantua of Ghana, who at the time of the fight had fought 33 fights with 30 wins. In this fight, Arthur Abraham won a landslide victory by unanimous decision: 117-109, 116-111 and 115-112. It should be noted that in the seventh round a point was deducted from Arthur for a blow to the back of the head.

Belt defense against Edison Miranda

Throughout the fight, Miranda had the advantage - he attacked more often and hit more. In the fifth round he broke Arthur's jaw. However, Arthur survived until the end of the fight and won it by unanimous decision (116-109, 115-109 and 114-109). During the fight, Miranda lost five points for rule violations: two points were deducted from him for an intentional headbutt in the fifth round, and three more for low blows in the seventh and eleventh rounds.

Belt defense against Sebastian Demers

Arthur Abraham made his fourth defense of the belt against Canadian Sebastian Demers, who by that time had twenty successful fights and was ranked 27th in the world rankings. In the third round, Arthur Abraham knocked down his opponent, after which the referee intervened and stopped the fight, recording the victory of the Armenian boxer by technical knockout.

In 2006, Arthur Abraham became “Boxer of the Year” in Germany according to BoxSport magazine, ahead of IBF world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBO world light heavyweight champion Zsolta Erdei.