Even though its not for another 2 1/2 weeks... its time to start discussing. Abraham-Taylor, and Froch-Dirrell. My thoughts on both fights: Abraham-Taylor: Abraham style's figures to give Taylor success early. JT as always will pile up points early behind his jab, and handpeed. But Abraham is very strong, and very heavy handed, and once he begins landing more and more... Taylor will fade quicker. But the late rounds Taylor will be gassed, and AA will hurt him and put him away. Abraham TKO 10. Dirrell-Froch: VERY tough matchup to pick. IF Dirrell can fight under control, theres a very good chance he can school Froch. If not, Froch will probably clean his clock at some point. I go back n forth on this matchup constantly... but at the moment I like Dirrell by decision, I'm very excited for both matchups though! Oct 17th will be a great day for boxing. Thanks Showtime!:hammert:
I'm excited to see these matchups:hammert: Abraham TKO7 because Taylor is shop worn I think Froch pressures Dirrell and stops him late TKO9
Tough matchups to pick for sure. I got Taylor barely winning a decision against Abraham in a fight where he picks up a big lead early, falters late, and then hangs on till the end to survive. I think Froch wins against Dirrell in a come from behind TKO in 11 rounds after digging himself a hole and going down on the cards to the younger guy before his experience and stamina comes into play.
I can't decide on Taylor vs Abraham. It's either Taylor by decision or Abraham by mid to late KO. Abraham won't win on points, that's all Im sure of. Dirrell by UD. I don't think much of Froch at all still, he got damn lucky that Taylor gassed as bad as he did.
Taylor by decision. I'm hoping he's NOT too shop worn, and at least has enough left to decision the overrated Smurf. Frock by late TKO. For 2 reasons, first I've barely seen Dirrel, and second, he did prove himself somewhat against Taylor. He looked as shit as I've always said he was early, but at least proved he is a strong, tough, determined fighter. Has Dirrel proved that? If not, Frock is a safer bet really.
REED has OPENLY Predicted that Arthur Abraham OR Andre Dirrell will Win the ENTIRE Tournament, so Obviously he FANCIES their Chances in their Opening Bouts... The MORE REED Sees of Abraham, the MORE he Likes...Dude is the ULTIMAE "X-Factor"...Sure, Abraham's the SMALLEST Guy in the Tourney, but he's Also Probably THE BEST Pure Puncher...& Sure, the Point Deductions where Somewhat SHAKY in the 1st Fight w/Edison Miranda, but NOBODY Can Front on the ADVERSITY that Abraham Weathered in that Fight NOR the Sheer DECISIVENESS of the RE... These Days, Jermain Taylor is a Glorified OPPONENT...HONEST, TOUGH, BALLSY, yet LIMITED Fighter...He'll Undoubtedly have his MOMENTS, but Ultimately Abraham's Gonna VIOLENTLY Break Him....Probably by the 10th Round or So... Andre Dirrell's CHIN is Still an "X-Factor", but he's Faaaaaaaaar & Away the Most NATURALLY TALENTED Fighter in the Tournament...AND he's Got YOUTH & SIZE to Go w/It...If Dirrell's Punch Resistance Holds Up, he'll Come Out of this ON TOP...Dirrell is a BETTER Version of Jean Pascal, who ALSO Brought a Shaky Chin & Extreme ATHLETICISM Into a Fight w/Carl Froch, Losing a CLOSE, ENTERTAINING Decision... REED Loooooooooves Froch's CONFIDENCE, but he's NOT as Good as he THINKS he Is...Dirrell MAY Have to Climb Off the Canvas 1nce or Twice, but for the BULK of the Fight, he'll OUTCLASS Froch...REED likes Dirrell by UD...It WON'T Necessarily B IMPRESSIVE, but it'll B a CLEAR Win... REED:mj:
Different LOCATIONS, but BOTH Fights will B Televised by SHOWTIME on the SAMEfuckingNIGHT!!!...This'll B THE BEST Televised Card of 2009, Bar None.... REED:cheer:
You think Abraham is better than Kessler? I can't see Abraham doing anything with Kessler but getting KO'd.
Kessler will be eliminated by Ward. I'm guessing REED is picking that as well. If Ward and Kessler didn't meet up in the first round, I would have picked both in the finals.
As far as i'm aware, the first round is not an eliminator, theres still chance for ward or kessler to progress if either lose
REED ISN'T Sold on Kessler...While Everybody Else has ANNOINTED him, REED Sees a Guy that's Getting ALOT of Mileage Out of LOSING to Joe Calzaghe....Besides that, Kessler is Basic Almost to a FAULT... EVERY Fighter in the Tournament has REASONABLE DOUBT Surrounding them...& That's what Makes this Whole Thing BEAUTIFUL...WHOEVER Comes Out on Top will have CLEARLY PROVEN Himself to B "THE GUY" @ Supermiddle.... & if Kessler So Happens to B that Guy, he'll Get Nathan BUT PRAISE from REED.... REED:hammert:
I can understand wanting Kessler to prove more before "annointing" him, but compared to Ward, Dirrell, Abraham and Froch, I think the guy's proven the most. I think it was his shut-out of Andrade that boosted his ranking so much. Either way, I'm glad he's in the tournament. Obviously, there remains doubters when it comes to him. By the way, I can see how Kessler, in light of his loss to Calzaghe, could seem one dimensional. But I don't think it's the case. I think stylistically he didn't match up well with Calzaghe. Who has? But I don't think that means he's one dimensional. In fact, I think he will beat Ward easily.
Here is one. All the bouts in the Super Six Classic will be fought under the Unified Rules of Boxing. Each man fights three bouts against different opponents in the field in the points based Group Stage of competition; a win = 2 points with a one point bonus for KO/TKO; loss = 0 points and 1 point for a draw. After the Group Stage, the four fighters with the highest number of points will advance to the single elimination Semi Final. The winners of the Semi Final bouts will advance to the finals and fight for the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic trophy.
For ONCE I agree with Double over REED. How can REED call Kessler basic, yet praise AA? Abraham is about as basic as they come. Kessler would outbox AA handily. Outta all of the 6... the one could who could pose serious problems for Kessler is Dirrell.... IF Dirrell can put his talent together. Ward doesnt have the power to beat Kess, Froch is too hittable and limited, AA is too limited, and Taylor just sucks.
The Fact is, this is a HUNCH Tournament...EVERY Fighter Involved has Some DOUBT Surrounding them & STILL Have Some PROVING to Do to Boxing Fans...Even if U're Picking Kessler to Win it All, it's More of a HUNCH than Anything Else... REED DOESN'T Get the Same HUNCH from Kessler as Some of Ya'll Do, Obviously...UNTIL they have to Face Each Other, REED is Rolling w/Arthur Abraham AND Andre Dirrell... REED:hammert:
I see Abraham-Taylor going like *Z* posted. Either Taylor by decision or AA by KO. 3-4 years ago i would have picked Taylor on points without much hesitation. However he's suffered two brutal KO losses and will be fighting away from home. Jermain can outbox Abraham, but i just don't see him sustaining it for 12 rounds. I have to think a bit more about Froch vs Dirrell.
Has there been any definite word on round two, yet? Ward's trainer said something about Taylor in February...but that was a while ago, and I haven't read that - or any other potential rd. 2 match-up - anywhere else.