By Al Bernstein
One of the many charms of the Super Six World Boxing Classic is that no matter how you match the six tournament entrants, you end up with a fascinating and potentially exciting bout. Evidence of that are the two fights that will kick things off on Saturday, Oct. 17. Two former middleweight champs square off in Berlin, Germany, when American Jermain Taylor travels across the pond to take on Germany’s Arthur Abraham. Then, in Nottinghham, England, hometown hero Carl Froch defends his WBC title against young American Andre Dirrell. Read More
The 29-year-old Abraham provides Taylor with some difficult challenges. Abraham’s defense has been almost impossible to penetrate and when he is hit, Abraham has shown an iron chin and amazing resiliency. Edison Miranda broke Abraham’s jaw in the early rounds of a 2006 match, but Abraham fought the full 12 rounds to win a decision. Then there is Abraham’s power. His record of 30-0 with 24 knockouts includes stoppages against seven of his last eight opponents.
If there is an Achilles heel for Abraham, it might be his difficulty in dealing with good all-around boxers… Enter Jermain Taylor. With superb skills this 31-year-old is the consummate boxer-puncher. With two wins over ring legend Bernard Hopkins and four defenses of his middleweight title, Taylor has strong credentials, but recent events have cast him in the underdog role for this tournament. He has lost three of his last four fights, but all three were within his grasp. On April 25 he and another Super Six contestant, Carl Froch, engaged in one of the best fights of the year. Taylor put Froch down in the second and boxed superbly for most of the first 9 rounds, then, characteristically started to tire. Froch rallied and put Taylor down in the 12th, but even with that, had Taylor stayed on his feet he would have won the fight. Instead, with just seconds left on the clock, Froch stopped him–a heartbreaking loss for Jermain.
There are a number of intangibles that provide intrigue in this match. One is the fact that both of these men have had most of their fights at 160 pounds. Taylor is 1-1-1 as a 168 pounder. All three have been good efforts, a close decision loss to Kelly Pavlik, a win over Jeff Lacy and the Froch fight that barely eluded him. Abraham is 1-0, a TKO win over Miranda in their rematch.
The styles of these two fighters sets up what could be a dramatic ebb and flow to the fight. Abraham is often a slow starter who stays in his shell-like defense for a number of rounds and often loses those rounds. Those are the rounds that Taylor often wins in fights–when he is fresh. Then in the middle rounds Abraham starts to come out of his cocoon and land big power shots. Those are the rounds in which traditionally Taylor has suffered from stamina problems. Can Abraham deal with the boxing skill set of Taylor? And can Taylor avoid tiring as the fight wears on, and avoid he power punches of Abraham? The answers will come on Oct. 17.
On the same night over in the U.K., you can expect a ravenous crowd of Carl Froch supporters to fill every seat in the Nottingham arena for his bout against Andre Dirrell. Carl will be defending his title for the first time at home, after making his first defense in America against Taylor. The 32 year old Brit has used his unorthodox style, granite chin and power punching to fashion a 25-0 record, 20 of those coming by knockout. His comeback win over Taylor won him a legion of new fans at home and around the world.
Into this charged atmosphere comes 27-year-old American Andre Dirrell. This former Olympian might be the most gifted athlete in the Super Six tournament, and he too is undefeated at 18-0. He has speed in both hands and feet and can throw dazzling combinations. Dirrell, however, is untested against this level of opposition.
The match-up offers some good plotlines. For Carl Froch, defense is an afterthought at best and Dirrell is a quick puncher. But Dirrell can have lapses in concentration during fights and Froch tends to seize on those opportunities.
On Oct. 17, four fighters head into uncharted territory in a tournament format that has never before been seen in boxing. This doubleheader will provide us with some early clues on who will be a force to be reckoned with in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. I’ll see you there!
~Al Bernstein