Abraham vs Dirrell: Can Andre Outhustle "King" Arthur?
By Mark Vester
On Saturday night, the Showtime's anticipated Super Six tournament kicked off with a bang. In Berlin, Germany, Arthur Abraham knocked out Jermain Taylor in the twelfth round. Over in Nottingham, England, WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch won a controversial split decision over Andre Dirrell.
Many observers and boxing writers saw Dirrell as the winner. Prior to the fights, Showtime officially announced the second stage of bout in the super middleweight tournament. Dirrell has it tough in the second going but he gets a chance to redeem himself against Abraham.
“Arthur is a warrior. He knows how to fight,” Dirrell said.
They say styles make fights and Dirrell's style is going to give Abraham a very, very tough fight. Abraham has several bad habits that Dirrell is sure to exploit. He tends to keep both hands down when backing away from an opponent. He tends to give an entire round away by fighting in small spurts, with the spurts usually coming in the final minute. He is not a very active puncher.
Taylor was too tentative to take the fight to Abraham and because of that he was unable to exploit any of his weaknesses. Because Abraham was so inactive in several of the rounds, he made the fight much closer and gave away several rounds based on Taylor's higher activity level. In his loss to Froch, Dirrell proved a few things. He can take a punch, he can box his way out of trouble and his punches have some zip. He was able to buckle Froch twice but couldn't put him away. Like Froch, Abraham has never faced a fighter with the speed or movement of Dirrell.
Froch’s trainer Robert McCracken told The Telegraph that Dirrell has the toughest style to combat in the Super Six.
“[Dirrell] is a nightmare opponent. A great boxer, a canny southpaw, a great mover. He really was a nightmare to box," McCracken said.
Most insiders believe that Abraham fights in small spurts to ensure his stamina is on point in the later rounds. Dirrell, on sheer volume punching and moving away from counters, can steal a lot of rounds in the fight. Their fight is expected to take place in the United States, and that is sure to give Dirrell a little more confidence.
An interested clash of styles and a much tougher fight than Abraham's big win over Taylor.
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingvester@gmail.com
