It will happen in the summer according to Sauerland. Can the old man protect his chin long enough to take advantage of Abraham´s stamina issues? Thoughts?
If so, it'll be a non-title fight, meaning win or lose a Martinez fight could still be on. Not sure about Forrest at middleweight, but I guess Forrest is, with Shaw having talks with Pavlik and Abraham. Seems a little curious at this point of his career, but if there's money in it...
You are right. It makes a lot of sense for Forrest. He can always go back down to 154 and make the fight with Martinez, or should he win, he´ll give up the WBC jr. middle belt, keep the IBF middleweight title and make a fight with Pavlik.
Abraham has trouble with Forrest's style for 4 or 5 rounds...breaks him down with his size and strength...and stops him via TKO in the 11th.
The key here could be whether or not Forrest can counter Abraham. I think he's taller than him and could manage to stay out of his wheel house, make Abraham come to him, and counter with left hooks and upper-cuts. Problem is, Forrest, even at 154, isn't the puncher he was at 147, whether it's because of the 10oz gloves or what, he's just not the dangerous one punch guy he'd been at 147. He'll have to prepare hard obviously. But I'm not so sure I'm sold on the notion that Abraham is some godly hard puncher. He couldn't even knock out grossly undersize Shannon Taylor, or Jantuah who is a 154 pounder. Eastman and Miranda both went the distance with him. About the best guy he knockedout was Ikeke and that's never surprising. So why is Abraham hailed as being some hard puncher? I guess he has a pretty good KO % (80%), but who has he fought? He doesn't have anything close to a win as significant as Pavlik's KO of Taylor and his subsequent decision win. Abraham is your typical protected Saurland champion. I can't imagine a guy who went the distance with Shannon Taylor could pose any threat to Pavlik. I "guess" if he beats Forrest you could make the case he has the credentials, but then again, Forrest hasn't always looked the best, especially above 147. And one thing I noticed is that Abraham's resume is littered with guys who've moved up from 147 and 154. He's not fighting guys who are on their way to 168 or above the way Pavlik has. Abraham's gotta be over-rated. He hasn't beaten anyone of note.
Abraham has been mytholised a little too much....i mean, if Howard Eastman was a little less lazy he could have beaten him ....i think Forrest gets off to a good start, it is just about sustaining it....i think he could cause the upset i could be a close one......where will it take the place? Forrest and Santos are both to have tune up fights before they meet....wonder how Abraham feels, he is merely tune-up fodder
So, on the one hand, he's unlikely to pose a threat to Forrest, but then..if he does manage to win, its because Forrest is rubbish above 147 / having a bad night. The middleweight division is rubbish, I don't mind abraham facing a forrest, but if he cannot get Pavlik afterwards, he should probably move up
I've never been able to understand the celebration over Arabham by European posters,... even Orthodox Cruisader was a massive fan,... from my point of view I can understand how a good legal defence can be seen as refreshing?,.. but apart from that, what's so awesome? :dunno: ,...
I don't think that's what I'm saying. What I'm saying is Forrest has been inconsistent fighting above 147. It's questionable that he beat Quartey - a washed up Quartey, and then he loses to Mora. Granted, he came back and showed he's the better man by beating Mora decisively in the rematch. I guess all I'm saying is Forrest will have to be able to counter Abraham if he's going to win because I don't think he's going to be able to back him up and I don't think it's in his best interest to trade with Abraham. And if you read my post, I did say that a win over Forrest would be a nice credential, but it would still leave Abraham with a pretty thin resume if you ask me, given the hype surrounding him. I don't know what proof there is that Abraham is all that good given the level of competition he's had.
Well...he has faced a bunch of marginal contenders, beat Ikeke when it meant something, KO'ed Miranda pretty quickly second time around, beat the current european middleweight champ (Gevor), and has a few emphatic KOs to emphasise his power (particularly as he isn't exactly a high volume puncher)...he's got a strong base, a high guard, and is good at dictating the pace of a fight..against that, he can be lazy, takes rounds off, underperforms sometimes against lesser opponents, and making weight may be an issue..he's likely the best or 2nd best in a weak division
Definitely the biggest test of Abraham's career if this fight is really made. Not sure who I'd pick, yet.
You talk about Abraham not rating as a puncher but when has Forrest proven to be one? Even at 147 the only thing he's been able to prove is the ability to drop Mosley and that seemed more of a fluke than anything (his performance, not the win). Also don't forget that Forrest also fought Shannon Taylor to a decision win just like Abraham. Forrest's chin has been shakey as of late so I think that if Baldomir can hurt Forrest Abraham has an even better chance.
Mosley almost stopped him in 1 round. Clocked him with a fast, vicious right hand and Sharon didn't even know where he was. His corner was talking to him between rounds and he was saying "ee didn't knock meh daaaan!!". Arab-ham has become overrated as a punch through scoring admittedly vicious KO's against bums. Similar to someone like Freitas I guess. When freitas stepped up, it became quite clear that he wasn't the monster puncher he was supposed to be.
My mistake, I was thinking of Adrian Stone. Actually the confusion was I put Stone's face to Taylor's name.
Forrest is reportedly going to fight Jason LeHoullier (21-1-1, 8KOs) on the April 25th Showtime card (now a triple header) main evented by Carl Froch-Jermain Taylor and supported by Allan Green-Carlos De Leon Jr.
Meanwhile, Abraham "plans to fight this summer in Germany against Giovanni Lorenzo, his mandatory challenger" according to Dan Rafael.
