Berlin, Nov 22 (IANS): Arthur Abraham successfully defended his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) super middleweight belt with a split-decision win over Martin Murray of England in Hannover.

Two judges were in favour of the America-born German, judging 115-112, 116-111, while one gave credit to Murray scoring it 115-112 on Saturday night, reports Xinhua.

Murray was the busier fighter throughout, producing more body shots and forcing Abraham on the back foot for long periods. The defending champ improved, catching Murray with a huge right in the seventh round.

Murray returned the favour in the next, when Abraham did well to make the bell, but the challenger's hopes took a blow in the 11th when he had a point deducted for holding with Abraham in the ascendancy.

"He was a world class boxer, he was a sandbag, but we were better tactically and combatively," said Abraham, who improved to 44-4 (29 knockouts) after defending his title for the fifth time. Murray dropped to 32-3-1 (15 knockouts).