Barely a month after losing his super middleweight world title in the worst performance of his career, Arthur Abraham is planning his return to the ring.
Abraham, a former middleweight titleholder and two-time super middleweight titlist, will return July 16 at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin, promoter Team Sauerland announced on Thursday.
Abraham will fight an opponent to be determined on the undercard of super middleweight world titleholder Giovanni De Carolis (24-6, 12 KOs), of Italy, making his first defense against German up-and-comer Tyron Zeuge (18-0, 10 KOs).
Mexico's Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez, who was the mandatory challenger, pitched a shutout on all three scorecards to take Abraham's 168-pound world title on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. III undercard on April 9 in Las Vegas.
Many thought Abraham, who has had many rough and hard fights in his 13-year-career, might retire, but he said he's not prepared to walk away from boxing yet.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye to the sport I love so much," Abraham (44-5, 29 KOs), 36, of Germany, said. "'The fight with Ramirez did not go as planned, but I promise this will not happen again. I will show that I can do better and that I can become world champion again. That is my greatest wish."
Ulli Wegner, Abraham's longtime trainer, said he would give Abraham one more chance before encouraging him to retire.
"I was not happy with Arthur's performance against Ramirez, but I have decided to give the boy another chance," Wegner said. "He did not do enough in Las Vegas to retain his title and call himself a champion. Now he must work harder and show that this was just a blip in his character.''
During a stretch between 2010 and 2011, Abraham lost three of four fights, with each defeat coming in the Super Six World Boxing Classic to top opposition in Andre Ward, Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell. He bounced back from that go on to have some of his greatest victories.
Promoter Kalle Sauerland said he thinks Abraham can bounce back once again.
"Arthur has overcome many obstacles in his career -- fighting through a broken jaw to defend his middleweight title against Edison Miranda (in 2006) and suffering defeat in the Super Six on his way to becoming a two-weight world champion.
"He has come back from defeat before, and we're sure he can do it again. It's now about his legacy and how he wants to be remembered as a boxer. He must show that the fire still burns and that he's willing to put in the work to become world champion again."