By Scott Gilfoid: WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (42-4, 28 KOs) won an impressive 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night against challenge Paul Smith (35-5, 20 KOs) in their rematch at the O2 World Arena in Berlin, Germany. Abraham flurried on Smith in every round to dominate the action.

Smith fought well enough to win two rounds in the fight – the 6th and the 11th rounds. The remainder of rounds were one-sided with Abraham dominating the action.

The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 117-111, all in favor of Abraham.

Abraham staggered Smith with a big right hand in the 4th round that had him in bad trouble. However, Smith was able to move just enough to make it out of the round.

Smith likely would have been knocked out had Abraham been capable of throwing punches for the full three minutes of every round rather than him fighting in spurts. Like in the first fight, Abraham took too much time off in every round, and this enabled Smith to have his moments.

In the 6th round, Smith appeared to hurt Abraham with a hard left to the body that caused Abraham to back up to the ropes and cover up. Smith tried to add to the shots, but Abraham was able to avoid most of his power shots.

It’s unknown if this time if Smith is going to campaign for another rematch. Hopefully, Smith is able to recognize that he didn’t win the fight, but you never know. I thought this fight was just as one-sided as their previous bout in September of 2014, yet Smith complained bitterly that he should have had his hand raised at the end to give him the victory.

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#12 WBO heavyweight contender David Price (19-2, 16 KOs) had an easy time tonight in stopping 34-year-old Brazilian Irineu Beato Costa Junior (16-3, 14 KOs) in the 6th round.

Price, 31, knocked Costa Junior down three times in the 6th round. At that point, Costa Junior’s corner threw in the towel to have the fight stopped.

The first knockdown came from a right-left combination to the head from Price that put Costa Junior down. In the second knockdown, Price dropped Costa Junior with a right to the head. At that point, Costa Junior would have been knocked down no matter what he was hit with. Price finished Costa Junior with a left to the head.
“I’ve lost twice, and I’ve got nothing to lose. A man who has nothing to lose is a dangerous man,” Price said after the fight.

Price also spoke about wanting to fight Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

Price looked timid for most of the fight, as he mostly just jabbed and threw occasional shots. He seemed like he was afraid to let his hands go for fear of getting nailed by one of Costa Junior’s right hands. However, once Price finally figured out that Costa Junior wasn’t a danger to him due to his nonexistent work rate, Price finally started throwing power shots in the 6th round.

Price doesn’t look like he’s mentally recovered from his two knockout losses to Tony Thompson yet.

Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn wasn’t impressed with Price’s performance, saying that he thinks that Price has regressed as a fighter. Hearn went on to say that he thinks that Joshua will be ready to fight him by later this year, and he thinks Joshua will win that fight. Hearn says that Joshua would have knocked Costa Junior out in the 1st round had he been in the ring with him instead of Price.

Other boxing results on the card:

Mirco Ricci UD 12 Enrico Koelling
Josh Warrington TKO 5 Edwin Tellez
Noel Gevor UD 8 Alejandro Emilio Valori