(Photo Credit: Sebastian Hagler) By Scott Gilfoid: WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (40-4, 28 KOs) will be defending his title in a voluntary defense against #5 WBO Paul Smith (35-3, 20 KOs) next month on September 27th in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Abraham, 34, is looking and fighting like someone at least 10 years younger than his chronological age. If you look at him at age 24 and compare that to how he looks and fights now, it’s nearly impossible to see any difference. The only thing that’s changed with Abraham is he’s bigger since moving to super middleweight and definitely a lot stronger than he was at 160.
Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn thinks that Abraham has aged to the point where he’s vulnerable to getting beaten by Smith on September 27th. He sees Smith as getting Abraham on the tail end of his career where he’s like an old lion about to be beat up and sliced to ribbons by a younger lion. The thing is Paul Smith is 31 and he hardly looks young. He doesn’t seem to fight with the same energy he did a decade ago when he was at his best.
When Smith was in his early 20s, he was slim and could move around the ring to attack his opponents nonstop. But now that he’s 31, you could see visible flab on his frame, and when he attacks, it’s usually one punch thrown followed by a clinch. Smith kind of falls forward while throwing the punch and goes straight into a bear-hug with his opponents.
It looks like gravity is pulling Smith towards his opponents for a clinch each time he throws. I think it might energy thing or lack thereof, because he looks like he needs to rest when he throws a shot.
“I just feel like this is the perfect time for Paul Smith against Arthur Abraham,” Hearn said to Skysports.com. “Abraham is coming to the back-end of his career – is there still the desire against an opponent like Paul Smith? Can he get himself up for it again, those hard morning runs and long spars? Paul Smith can, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. He will put everything in to the camp and everything in on the night. Arthur has got to live with that desire.”
I don’t buy what Hearn is saying. I know in theory the younger guy is supposed to be the one that has more energy than the 34-year-old, but in this case I think Abraham hasn’t aged like normal people do. He’s aging slower and I see him as the much younger guy than Smith at this point. He’s also the much stronger puncher of the two.
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