Froch Vs. Abraham: To Out-Slug the Slugger

Carl Froch (26 - 1, 20 KOs) Vs. Arthur Abraham (31 - 1, 25 KOs) has not only slugfest written all over it but also potentially fight of the Super Six. These two are no shrinking violets; typically both enter a bout fully prepared to wage a war of attrition. Sure they will get caught, that’s par for the course, but they know they can take the hit, whereas – statistically speaking – their opponents rarely do. Their stamina is formidable – in the final rounds they can be most effective when their adversary begins to flag – just like thoroughbreds finding that extra yard of pace with the winning line in site. It will come as no surprise to suggest this will not be a highly technical fight, we are not talking Ray Leonard or Pernell Whitaker here, but you really cannot beat some European mano a mano boxing for sheer entertainment value and I, for one, cannot wait.

Froch is without question tough as old boots but he has surprised better pundits than me by reaching such an elite level in his career. He has always had great power, an iron chin and bucket-loads of heart but the technical deficiencies in his game looked like prohibiting him from feeding at the top table. Infuriatingly, his defence has always been wide open. He likes to leave his hands low and rely on reflex and head-movement to avoid punches but he simply is not quick enough to prevent each one from landing. There was always the suspicion that sooner or later a natural boxer would outclass him and while Andre Dirrell might have had the tools, his blueprint was found wanting, and Froch’s only loss came when he was very slightly out-fought by a rejuvenated Mikkel Kessler. To thrive in spite of these faults then is testament to how good his chin, power and heart actually are and never underestimate his ability to drag an opponent into the trenches and then maul them like a lion.

Abraham also has an iron chin – and I mean that almost literally – he has had two titanium plates and 22 screws fitted after breaking it in his first win against Edison Miranda. To actually contest eight rounds with his jaw hanging off was one of the most courageous yet gruesome sporting feats I have ever witnessed. How anyone can fail to respect him after that is beyond comprehension. The other remarkable thing about the Armenian is his bombs. Pound-for-pound, his power is up there with anybody. Abe can bang like a barn door in a gale-force wind.

Paradoxically, his crude yet extremely effective defence is both a huge strength and an Achilles’ heel. He places his gloves in front of his face like two pillars of stone and tucks his elbows against his ribs to protect the body, then presses forward like a Sherman tank until he closes his opponent down. It is next to impossible to inflict any damage on him while he is in this posture but conversely his offence is very telegraphed once he corners his man and launches a peek-a-boo bomb. If he doesn’t land then he is off-balance and ripe for the counter. He found it very difficult to hit Dirrell all night utilising this style (except for when the Matrix was on his ass) but there were tangible signs that Dirrell was tiring and beginning to struggle. This is Abraham’s game plan; he will wear you down then knock you out and he is extremely good at it.

Despite the power of both men, I do not see a stoppage occurring. Froch and Abraham simply do not get knocked out, their chins are too good. I believe the fight will be won and lost in the early rounds and that depends on who gets busy first. Froch has been known to be sluggish when the opening bell rings out but Abraham is a notorious slow starter. Time-after-time he has gifted the first half of the fight away. He cannot afford to do that here and after his struggles with Dirrell, he has vowed not to.

Whether this turns out to be the case, who can say? We’ll just have to wait and see but based on previous performances we have to assume that he will stay true to form and Froch will start brighter and thus develop a point’s lead. The other significant factor is Froch’s considerable reach advantage – this should win rounds for him.

As the fight progresses past the halfway mark, I believe Abraham will come on strong and with Froch’s wide open defence (and tiredness creeping in), he is likely to land with more regularity and make the score cards competitive. Will it be enough? I suspect not, so I predict a decision win for the Englishman.

Froch on points then, but whatever the outcome, it will be an absolute war and this sort of fight is the reason we love the sport - two warriors at the top of their game going hell-for-leather to claim the knockout. Roll on 27^th November!

Haye Shows His Human Side

David Haye has shown a rare glimpse of his human side after describing himself as ‘extremely upset’ by the brutal manner in which his former foe Enzo Maccarinelli was knocked out in the 7th round at LG Arena, Birmingham on 18th September.

Haye is possibly the biggest trash talker in boxing today. In the past he has described Nikolai Valuev as a circus freak and the ugliest man he has ever met, he has worn a t-shirt displaying both Klitschko brothers with decapitated heads, and more recently predicted his upcoming bout with Audley Harrison “will be more one-sided than a gang rape.”

So it is all the more surprising that Haye has offered only words of compassion and support to his fallen rival.

Haye was ringside when Maccarinelli was hit flush with a huge left thrown by German Alexander Frenkel. The Welshman bravely climbed off the canvas, but he was clearly out-on-his-feet, when Frenkel finished him off with another hook that savagely jarred his head back.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Haye said: “I found it extremely upsetting and sobering to watch Enzo lose like that on Saturday. Enzo is one of boxing’s true gentlemen and he’d shown a tremendous amount of guts and heart to rebound from defeat and win the European belt. I was desperate for him to win back his old world title, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

“I actually saw Enzo leave in the ambulance after the show on Saturday had ended, and it was quite an emotional sight. It was only two years ago that Enzo and I were squaring off in the biggest all-British unification match in years. We were both 27 at the time and we both had the world at our feet. I was the number one cruiserweight in the world, Enzo was number two, and we both had dreams of unifying the division.

“It just goes to show what a fickle and unfair sport this can be sometimes.”

Since Maccarinelli’s recent string of defeat’s, many fans and pundits view the Welshman as a tragicomic figure, but it wasn’t so long ago that he was viewed as good a prospect as Haye. Going into their 2008 cruiserweight match-up, the press were completely divided over the outcome.

Today the boxing world harbour more ambivalent feelings for Maccarinelli, but it’s clear that Haye still has nothing but respect for the Welshman and he pulled no punches over the inadequate performance of the referee and his corner.

He said: “I was disgusted with the way the referee and Enzo’s own corner allowed him to continue to fight on following the first knockdown on Saturday. He was hit by a huge left-hook, went down as though he’d been knocked clean out, and then somehow bravely pulled himself to his feet.

“Anybody who knows boxing – and anybody who knows Enzo – would have been aware that the fight should have been stopped immediately. He was in a far worse state following that first knockdown on Saturday than he was when I stopped him.

“However, the referee and corner stupidly allowed him to continue and we all saw what happened next. What were these people expecting Enzo to do at that stage? He was never going to turn things around in the state he was in. Everybody at ringside was shouting for the fight to be stopped, as we all knew what was about to happen.”

“His corner need to take a long, hard look at themselves and question why they let him continue trying to fight beyond that first knockdown. Boxers rely on their corner men for protection and, unfortunately, Enzo’s let him down badly on Saturday. I only hope the people around him have his best interests at heart and now guide him towards the correct decision going forward.”

Quotes like these may lead many observers to question whether Haye has turned a corner from some of his more unsavoury episodes in the past, but that’s not likely. Maccarinelli is the only big name that Haye never disrespected in the run-up to a fight and that’s probably due to the pair of them being friends. Expect normal service to be resumed when a journalist rams a microphone in Haye’s face and asks him about the Audley Harrison fight.

Andre Dirrell's Reputation in Tatters

The Super Six has been plunged into farce by Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KOs) crying injury in the build up to his scheduled bout with Andre Ward (22-0, 13 KOs) on 27th November. Already blighted by withdrawals from Jermain Taylor (28-4-1, 17kOs) and Mikkel Kessler (43-2, 32 KOs), this latest revelation could finally sound the death knell on the credibility of the entire tournament and raise a number of uncomfortable questions for the fighter from Flint, Michigan. Throughout the Super Six, Dirrell has courted controversy and criticism in equal measure, but to date most pundits have been prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, but now Dirrell has to accept his reputation is in tatters.

Leon Lawson Sr, Dirrell’s grandfather and trainer, has stated that the injury is from his illegal knockout by Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KOs). Apparently a neurologist has advised Dirrell to rest. Speaking to the Flint journal, Lawson Sr said: "It still bothers him and there are times when he just hasn't been himself. He'll get headaches. A neurologist told us that he needs to take some time off."

Does anybody buy this? Why did he not undergo a battery of tests, including neurological, before announcing the fight? Have these symptoms only now manifested as the date looms? It is a huge taboo to suggest an athlete may be faking an injury but it was patently obvious that these two fighters had no intention of getting it on – they had previously postponed the last date without selling tickets, declaring a venue or undertaking any form of promotion. Showtime actually had to threaten to sue both parties before they settled on another date and now Dirrell is injured? This is far too convenient for fans and journalist not to legitimately have the right to question whether the injury is genuine. Personally, I have grave doubts, not least because of Dirrell’s previous form in this tournament.

Going into the Super Six I didn’t know much about him and was surprised he had been selected by Showtime. I expected Carl Froch to murder him in the opening fight him but events unfolded very differently and it was both surprising and appalling. Dirrell seemed to have it all... speed, movement, footwork, and a decent shot – he even managed to wobble Froch at one point – but this was all massively overshadowed by his spoiling tactics and complete absence of conviction. He was continually running, clinching, bending-over, turning his back and complaining to the referee. It smacked of a lack of heart and despite the fight being there for the taking, he seemed unable, or unwilling, to seize the initiative and tear the belt from the champ. The judges weren’t buying it and neither was I – he lost out on a split decision.

After postponing his next bout against Abraham due to a back injury he picked up in training, the location was changed from Rancho Mirage, California to Detroit in his home state of Michigan. The fight itself was not the stinker many had feared after the Froch debacle. His negative spoiling tactics were still evident but Dirrell looked gamer, letting his hands go more often as he built up a commanding points lead. Indeed, he even managed to knock Abraham down to the canvas for the first time in his career while the Armenian was off-balance. Finally, he was looking the real deal but it would not last. As the fight unfolded into the finals rounds Abraham shrugged off his typical slow start and went head-hunting. Dirrell reverted to type, running and attempting to spoil the fight. A minute into the 11th, he was neigh-on sprinting from Abraham when a glancing blow and some water in the corner caused him to slip to his knees. Abraham impudently followed up with a seemingly light uppercut while he was still down. There was a noticeable pause of some seconds before Dirrell rolled to his back and began dramatically twitching in a prone position.

Several factors led people to question whether it was a genuine knockout. Firstly, Abraham was ratcheting up the pressure and was looking for that big knockout-punch while it seemed Dirrell was beginning to struggle, there was also the opinion that he previously displayed a lack of heart and conviction against Froch, but perhaps foremost to the smoking-gun crowd was the fact that Dirrell won the fight after being deemed unfit to continue due to a foul – it sure beat having that Armenian powerhouse trying to take his head clean-off his shoulders for another five minutes.

Personally, I was not prepared to go along with that viewpoint, I simply attributed the knock-out to low punch-resistance – and I still do - but Dirrell is not doing himself or his legacy any favours with this fresh controversy.

So where do we go from here?

The best course of action for the Super Six would be to arrange a tune-up for Ward, while Froch and Abraham settle who has the right to face him in the final. Of course this will not happen, Showtime and the promoters will attempt to ring every last penny from this moribund tournament by replacing the latest drop-out with more sub-par fodder ala Glen Johnson (50-14-2, KOs 34).

As for Dirrell, I hope that Showtime commissions an independent neurologist to examine his injury and if he is given a clean bill of health, I hope they sue him for every penny he’s got. I have never publicly considered that an athlete may have faked an injury - and I hope I never do again - but this whole episode stinks to high-heaven. There is something truly rotten in the state of Michigan and it is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with boxing. Whether Dirrell can restore his reputation is open to debate but right now his stock could not be lower.