King Arthur reigns in Berlin

Arthur Abraham became a two weight world champion in Berlin, Germany last night when he ripped the WBO super-middleweight title from Robert Stieglitz.

The German-based Armenian, a former IBF champion at middleweight, hadn't really done the business since moving up to 168lbs in 2009.

He'd beaten a faded Jermain Taylor plus a couple of Euro level opponents, but had been outclassed by the likes of Carl Froch, Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward.

However, last night he proved that he still belongs in the upper echelons of the sport with a solid unanimous victory.

Abraham found the early going tough as Stieglitz looked to pin him against the ropes and unload, but the tide turned in the middle rounds.

Down the stretch, Abraham found the target with increasing regularity, leaving the defending champion with swelling around his left eye and a nasty cut near his right.

After the ringside physician had inspected his wounds, Stieglitz battled on bravely to the final bell but Abraham's punishing punches had proven telling.

The judges scores were 115-113 and 116-112 (twice).

"This is an emotional moment for me and it's hard to describe how I feel," said Abraham.

"I always wanted to be the middleweight world champion and now I am the super middleweight champion too.

"I trained hard for this and I had to box cleverly against such a good champion."

It seems likely that his next fight will be against longstanding middleweight titlist Felix Sturm, who is set to move up a weight division.