Abraham outpoints Sjekloca to retain WBO title

Arthur Abraham retained his WBO super-middleweight title by defeating Nikola Sjekloca of Montenegro on a unanimous points decision on Saturday night in Berlin.

The judges awarded the fight to Abraham 117-113, 116-112, 119-110 after the defending champion relied primarily on his left jab after suggesting during the bout that he had broken his right hand.

Abraham said: "I don't want to make excuses but I had to box the fight with my left. The fingers were already broken from the last fight.

"I had to do a lot with the left in training. That's why it was so close, though he's also a good fighter."

The Armenian-born German improved his record to 40-4 (28 KOs) after defending the title he won back from Robert Stieglitz by a split decision on March 1, while Sjekloca dropped to 26-2 (8 KOs).