Germany’s Arthur Abraham will defend his IBF middleweight title against Kelly Pavlik anywhere in the world to prove he is the best in the division, according to his agent Kalle Sauerland. Abraham’s next fight is against Lajuan Simon on Saturday 14 March. Sauerland told the Steve Bunce Boxing Hour on Setanta Sports News that Pavlik was the only fight Abraham wanted. He said:

“We’ve been after this fight for a long time and there definitely hasn’t been any offer to come to Germany. We put an offer to Top Rank [Pavlik’s promoters] and they seem to be hesitant, but I think in the past 48 hours we’re starting to make roads forward.

“This match up will show who the best middleweight in the world is.

“We understand that Kelly’s a big name in the States, but Arthur’s a big name in Germany. All we want is for this fight to happen. We’ll go to his backyard and fight him if necessary.”