I agree that if Dirrell stands in front of Abraham he will most likely be in trouble. But from what I saw in the Froch fight I don't believe Andre will. Abraham is an intelligent fighter, and his tactics have thus far always paid dividends and he is extremely disciplined but he does tend to give away the first few rounds Tommy. If he does press forward from the opening bell I can see the scenario you describe but if he does not then Andre hitting Abraham's gloves and arms may be sufficient for Dirrell to build up a sizeable lead. Lest we forget, Dirrell has superb speed, both of hand and foot and excellent reflexes and Arthur is not the most dynamic of fighters. He tends to break his opponents down, gradually, methodically! This is a great match-up as i'm sure you'll agree, but at present I am favouring Dirrell. I guess that means one of us is gonna be wrong mate.
Nor do I. I think we can agree that it's probably Dirrell's fight to lose giving the intangibles, but I'm just not sure that he will fight the right fight.
It's definately a toss-up. Like I said above, I will agree with you and Danny that it's Dirrell's fight to lose. I'm just not that sure that having hometown advantage and the crowd behind him, the way he lost against Froch because his style didn't impress the judges, I think it might cause him to fight a different fight and stand in front of Abraham a little more than he did Froch trying to pick him off. If he boxes as well and as disciplined as he did against Froch, I can definately see him taking a decision, no doubt.
I think Dirrell has the ability and talent to outbox Abraham. Thing is I think he's too green and inexperienced at this point of his career to actually pull it off and stay consistent with a fight plan good enough to beat AA. And being inconsistent means he'll leave openings for the powerpunching Abraham which could spell total disaster for Andre and maybe even short cut his career. It's never good when a young, talented fighter gets smashed brutaly by another world class boxer. :-( Once again, I think it's possible Dirrell can pull off the upset, but I'm not counting on it.
:good I agree! Andre getting complacent is a concern, as you rightly say he can't drop his hands against this fella, he will get knocked out! I believe a viewing of Abraham's finish of Taylor should guard against such (Scary viewing that will be). Another concern I have has also been mentioned on here. What if Andre decides, due to the Froch decision to be far more aggressive? That would be bad idea against AA! What if he gets lulled into a sense of false security? By this I mean he has some success and foolishly decides to try and take Arthur out? That could be a disasterous mistake, but one a young a fighter angry at the outcome of his previous fight could possibly make!! Many have previously! Abraham is of iron will, as anyone who saw his first fight with Miranda will testify and I want Dirrell to box this guy for 36 minutes, because the minute it becomes a "War" is probably the last minute of the fight.
I agree with you 100% Tommy. If Dirrell, spurred on by a partizan crowd and with the decision of the judges in his previous fight fresh in his mind, decides perhaps emboldened by some initial success to try to "Fight" AA or even worse try to take him out, that could prove to be a horrendous mistake. He boxes Abraham he is in with a great chance, he fights Abraham he loses, probably by ko! Incidentally, how do you see the betting for this fight Tommy? it should be interesting! AA coming off a spectacular ko win against a guy who "Lost" his previous fight? My guess (And it is only that) is that AA will be odds on!! Which does make Dirrell imo a good bet!! **** i'm going to have to nip to Ladbrokes to find out!! i'll let you know how they have it. Just looked at some bookies! Ladbrokes don't have any prices available, but AA is 2.32, which is almost 11/8 with Betfair to win the tournament outright and Dirrell is 13/1 to win it outright, so I guess the English bookies will have AA a strong favourite if that market is any guide!
Dirrell is the perfect, and in fact typical, AA opponent. Green as hell and coming off a loss. Just the way Sauerland likes 'em.
It's a Super Six Tournament. It was scheduled anyway, it's not Sauerland's fought he's coming off a loss. Not to mention most feel he beat Froch anyway and it's irrelevant, and he showed real maturity. The irony of a Pavlik fan criticising Abraham's choice of opponents. HAHA, I mean Miguel Espino? Gary Lockett? Marco Rubio? Yeah, great competition. Pavlik needs to get his arse into gear and start fighting people who are D/borderline C class at the best.
11/21/05: Raymond Joval TKO10 Shannon Taylor 3/4/06: Arthur Abraham UD12 Shannon Taylor Some of you guys ought to do a little research and learn somthing about who Abraham really is instead of blindly swinging off his nutsack.
Doesn't change the fact Abraham is fighting the world's best supermiddleweights and Pavlik is stuck fighting D level guys in a depleted division as it is.
Dirrell and Froch are a class below the rest in the tourney. If JT couldn't outbox AA for even a few rounds, Dirrell will not either. Dirrell will be out boxed.
Taylor is a much better boxer than Dirrell. However, Dirrell knows that all he has to do is run and be standing at the end of the fight for his judges to give him a decision, so he will run, hold, complain, fall down on canvas.
Boo, you're rocking the research. PS- Sorry for including KP in my Hate-O-meter thread, but it was appropriate because he takes alot of criticism on ESB.
Kofi Jantuah KO 20s Marco Antonio Rubio. 35-1 Kelly Pavlik: 9 rounds, no knockdown. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTf9DPNaPuI[/ame]