Arthur Abraham to make middleweight return next year

November 2, 2011 - 19:04 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Arthur Abraham has announced that he intends to return to the middleweight division in 2012.

The former IBF middleweight champion has been competing as a super middleweight for the last two years in the Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic, where he reached the semifinals, losing on points to America's Andre Ward.

Berlin-based Armenian Abraham (32-3, 26 KO's) has lost three of his last four fights in the 168 pound class, and the 5'9'' Armenian has struggled to compete against the likes of Ward, Andre Dirrell and Carl Froch, three fighters who are much taller with longer reaches, and have the boxing skill to maximize those advantages.

The 31-year-old has taken a five month break from the ring following the loss to Ward, but is hard at work in the Max Schmeling Gym in Berlin, owned by Sauerland Event, the largest boxing promoter in Germany, and one of the biggest in the world. He is currently tipping the scales at 175 lbs, and looking to compete at 165 lbs initially, before trimming right back to the middleweight limit of 160 lbs.

Prior to his move up to super middleweight, the powerfully built Abraham had struggled to make the middleweight limit, so won't he find it even harder two years later?

"A nutritionist is helping me. At night I eat only salads," Abraham told Bild.

"In January I start my comeback. Not in the middleweight division, but at 165 lbs. This is agreed with the opponent. He's still is not fixed, but it should already be a good man, and among the top ten in the rankings. We are in negotiations. One thing is certain for me already, that I continue boxing for Sauerland and my coach Ulli Wegner," Crunch Sports quoted him as saying.