Dirrell and Froch laid the blueprint for beating Abraham..

[DrewWoodside]

It involves using length, movement and keeping Abraham at distance among other things. Andre Ward, although undefeated thus far does not fight this way. He uses movement yes, but not the way Froch and Dirrell were capable of.. Froch fought tall, and Dirrell fought back peddaling + side to side. Ward fights in your chest mugging you. Working briefly outside of his opponents range then quickly jumping inside of it.

Froch and Dirrell spent every round attempting to work outside of Abraham's range. The reason being AA's power is very real.. We still haven't seen anyone attempt to fight Abraham in a phone booth or in close. As talented as Ward is, he will not be capitalizing on the blue print that everyone uses to discredit Abraham as a Super Middleweight. I'm not necessarily picking an upset, but there is some stylistic intrigue to this matchup IMO. Please discuss!

[Spray_resistant]

AA is simply not a world class fighter, and his strategy of waiting until his opponent gets tried enough as to where they couldn't get out of the way of AA's looping predictable power shots won't work on an elite level.

[Steak]

Raul Marquez and Ayala both were able to smother Abe on the inside. Marquez even broke his ribs I believe.

Abe doesnt fight well at close range nor at long range. You get in his power punching range and thats when you have trouble, because thats essentially all he is.
still a dangerous fight, the mans power is no joke.

[Pullcounter]

unfortunately for ward, he's a hold-n-hit fighter which will put him in harm's way.

[DrewWoodside]

Originally Posted by blackirish137

Raul Marquez and Ayala both were able to smother Abe on the inside. Marquez even broke his ribs I believe.

Abe doesnt fight well at close range nor at long range. You get in his power punching range and thats when you have trouble, because thats essentially all he is.
still a dangerous fight, the mans power is no joke.

I just think the moments in which Ward hops from outside of AA range to inside AA range is an opportunity for danger. Also, Ayala and Marquez are not as skilled as Ward. However, with that said there is still no one who has beaten Abraham by working inside.

[TheHolyCross]

Originally Posted by blackirish137

Raul Marquez and Ayala both were able to smother Abe on the inside. Marquez even broke his ribs I believe.

Abe doesnt fight well at close range nor at long range. You get in his power punching range and thats when you have trouble, because thats essentially all he is.
still a dangerous fight, the mans power is no joke.

didn't ayala also get brutally ko'd in the inside by an uppercut?

[aboustar]

Ward laser left jab will kill AA all the dayy

[studentofthegam]

Originally Posted by DrewWoodside

It involves using length, movement and keeping Abraham at distance among other things. Andre Ward, although undefeated thus far does not fight this way. He uses movement yes, but not the way Froch and Dirrell were capable of.. Froch fought tall, and Dirrell fought back peddaling + side to side. Ward fights in your chest mugging you. Working briefly outside of his opponents range then quickly jumping inside of it.

Froch and Dirrell spent every round attempting to work outside of Abraham's range. The reason being AA's power is very real.. We still haven't seen anyone attempt to fight Abraham in a phone booth or in close. As talented as Ward is, he will not be capitalizing on the blue print that everyone uses to discredit Abraham as a Super Middleweight. I'm not necessarily picking an upset, but there is some stylistic intrigue to this matchup IMO. Please discuss!

Originally Posted by Pullcounter

unfortunately for ward, he's a hold-n-hit fighter which will put him in harm's way.

I believe Ward has been fighting the type of guys that warrant him to be on the inside. We tend to forget about the SOG that can widen his stance and really box technically. For example Bika and Green were free swingers who's punching power is at its max when they have distance. The smartest boxing decision was to stay close because they all underestimate his brut strength. No one expects him to be the bully and for distance fighters it rinders them ineffective.

He will go back to his olympic style against AA because it makes it a cake walk because if there was ever a one dimentional fighter that cant adjust its Abraham. It should be target practice for Ward.

[Steak]

Originally Posted by DrewWoodside

I just think the moments in which Ward hops from outside of AA range to inside AA range is an opportunity for danger. Also, Ayala and Marquez are not as skilled as Ward. However, with that said there is still no one who has beaten Abraham by working inside.

no one has yet beat Abe on the inside, but hes still very beatable on the inside. just hasnt faced the level of infighter that could expose it...Ayala wasnt good enough, and Marquez was past his prime.

but I wholeheartedly agree that Ward needs to be careful about jumping in. hes reckless when he does that, and you simply cant be reckless against Abe, all he needs is a few shots.

otherwises, I think Ward will be just fine fighting on the inside.

[Steak]

Originally Posted by Blah!

didn't ayala also get brutally ko'd in the inside by an uppercut?

in the last round, and Ayala wasnt smothering him, he was backing up and in the corner. not really an infight, there was plenty of distance.