In what is expected to be his last bout in Germany before invading the U.S. boxing scene in search of Kelly Pavlik, IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (26-0, 20 KOs) scored a twelfth round knockout over Elvin Ayala (18-3-1, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at the Sparkassen Arena in Kiel, Germany. Abraham pressed the action from the opening bell. Ayala was game and in the fight early, but in rounds three and four the heavy hands of the champion began to take their toll. Abraham floored Ayala with a right hand in round five. Arthur continued to punish Ayala in the sixth. Ayala was having a good seventh round until Abraham rocked him at the end of the frame. Abraham continued to land brutal blows as the bout progressed but the super tough Ayala was determined to battle until the end, which came, brutally, in the twelfth when Abraham dropped him face first with a vicious left uppercut. Referee Roberto Ramirez stopped it at the 2:32 mark.