The O2 World Arena in Berlin will host a WBO World Super Middleweight title fight as Arthur Abraham meets Paul Smith for the second time in dispute of the belt on Feb 21. Right now at the books, Abraham is a (-400) favorite over Smith, who is coming back at (+325). There are no over/under lines posted as of yet.
The two men fought last September, and Abraham won the fight comfortably on the scorecards with (117-111,119-109,117-111) margins. Smith believed he had won the fight, and many in attendance believed he had acquitted himself well enough to at least earn a draw against Abraham, who at (41-4) is one of the top super middleweights of the last decade, in a time where the division has had a lot of talent.
Smith, at (35-4) is a hard working veteran of the British scene, where he has fought his whole career. He has dropped fights in England to George Groves and James DeGale since 2010, and four-fight win streak saw him get the shot at Abraham. He is considered to have fought over his head during the first title fight, and the line for the second fight may reflect that somewhat.
Though Smith will be motivated, and you can expect his most advanced training camp to date, he will need to find a different level to beat Abraham than even the one he displayed in his gutsy last outing. The bottom line is that if Abraham took him lightly the first time out, he will certainly be more careful this time around. Abraham managed to get the fight back in Germany though there was talk of neutral grounds being selected in the immediate aftermath of the first fight.
Abraham is also looking to make big money fights, possibly against the likes of Carl Froch or Andre Ward, and he left unfinished business with Smith that he must now deal with in order to get back to the big money fights.
Below is the post fight press conference featuring Smith’s calls for a re-match, from back in Setpember of 2014. Part of it is in German, but the Brits obviously speak in English Enjoy:
