Abraham to defend title against Marquez

Oct 3, 2008 - 7:54 PM BERLIN (Ticker) -- "King" Arthur Abraham puts his IBF middleweight belt on the line Saturday against mandatory challenger Raul Marquez .

Abraham (27-0, 22 KOs) will be making the ninth defense of his title with an eye toward a potential fight with WBC and WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik early next year.

Even so, Abraham, a native of Armenia who is a German citizen, is not looking past the dangerous Marquez (41-3-1, 29 KOs) in the 12-round middleweight title bout.

"He is fast, mobile and clever," said Abraham of Marquez. "In other words: He is a really good boxer. That will be a tough challenge for me."

Abraham also will be out to please his home fans for a second time in 17 months. Back in May 2007, in his first fight after breaking his jaw against Edison Miranda, the 28-year-old knocked out Sebastien Demers in the third round.

In his latest title defense, Abraham knocked out Miranda in the fourth round for his second victory over Miranda.

Marquez, 37, also has shown his toughness by winning six of his past seven fights, with a draw with Bronco McKart this past March mixed in.

"I am happy to be here in Germany to fight Abraham", the 37-year-old American stated. "He is a great champion and I do have a lot of respect for him. But I came here to win."

The undercard is highlighted by the cruiserweight bout between Bosnia's Enad Licina (14-1, 8 KOs) and American Otis Griffin (19-3, 7 KOs).