Abraham masters Miranda again

Arthur Abraham made it two wins out of two against Edison Miranda by stopping him in four rounds.

King Arthur makes it two from two in clinical catchweight win

Arthur Abraham scored a second win over Edison Miranda with a fourth-round stoppage in Hollywood. The undefeated German-based middleweight set himself up for bigger and better bouts ahead with a clinical display at the Seminole Hard Rock Café. His IBF title was not on the line, but having been taken the distance by Miranda in a grueling 12-rounder in September - Miranda's broken and badly swollen jaw remains one of the most prominent boxing images of recent times - there were doubts to be removed in this catchweight contest. And Abraham wasted little time in doing just that, slipping into stride early on before producing a chilling array of shots to settle it in the fourth. The first telling blow was a left to the head that put Miranda down and although he beat the count, another left soon after repeated the trick and the end was in sight. Abraham swarmed all over his man and landed a third big left to floor him for the final time, referee Telis Assemenios calling a halt with 73 seconds gone on the clock. The win stretched Abraham's record to 27-0 and confirmed his billing as the main pretender to Kelly Pavlik's middleweight throne. A unification showdown seems inevitable, although he will now get back down to his proper weight and defend against Raul Marquez next after the veteran edged a points decision over Giovanni Lorenzo on the undercard.