The Super Six Final - Kessler V Abraham

It has to do with exposure and Abraham not being American nor English nor having beaten/fought well-known US or UK fighters. Just wait and see what people are going to say if AA beats Taylor.

 

AA could have taken on bigger challenges than he did. He was doing the John Duddy route taking 'safe' fights waiting for a big payday against Pavlik. Seems like that never excited HBO to put up REAL money for that fight.

 

I can see that you are a huge Pavlik fan. However, I am sure you can see that it seems like Pavlik lost a lot of confidence after Hopkins and most people think that Kelly did not really feel like taking on big fights for a while and AA has looked like he was the one who really wanted the fight.

AA's inclusion in Super Six has pretty much cemented those thoughts.

Perhaps money was part of it for Kelly, but he really should not let his head get bigger than he can carry it in that case - he has a very limited number of interesting fights out there. Willimas is a fine fight and probably the biggest he could make at the moment. IF Bute beats Andrade on HBO and if Pavlik beats Willimas, then that fight makes sense - but also note that there really is no other fight remotely close to it. So Kelly has a very limited choice and cannot afford to be picky at this time. Sometimes the big fight is a risky one and he will just have to go with it.

I actually think both Willimas and Bute fights are highly risky and pretty much as risky as the AA fight would have been. The difference is probably that Kelly now feels he had the time to work through the Hopkins fight and hopefully he is now ready to get back into the mix.

 

I think AA and Kessler have to favored for the finale, but I wouldn't be surprised who ends up in the final

 

Kelly knows Hopkins was 'on' that night. He also knows his own physical condition. People can't/won't take Thomas Hauser's word for it. They won't even acknowledge that a foot of snot hanging from Pavlik's nose was a sign he was at the very least suffering from congestion. This isn't rocket science. You need all the oxygen you can get in a fight at that level.

Meaning? I don't think Kelly has a confidence problem after the Hopkins fight. We can debate, deny, fabricate, whatever all we want. HE KNOWS. In the article I linked earlier Loew said they won't let Pavlik fight again if he isn't 100%. So Loew knows also. This isn't a case of just perpetuating a lie. He was telling it like it is.

Yes. AA wanted the fight. I don't doubt that. So did Kelly. Abraham wasn't fighting the guys that would get HBO interested. His last few fights at 160 were less than stellar. Saurland came to the US specifically to talk to Arum. It came down to money. Arum never denied AA was worth what he was asking. He just couldn't raise it. Anyone that believes Arum didn't shop this fight to HBO and know exactly what it was worth is in deep, deep denial.

Kelly ****ed up in more ways than one when he went ahead with the Hopkins fight when he wasn't fit. He pissed off Arum and he lost the confidence of HBO. $2million TOTAL purse for Pavlik/Sturm? Pavlik picking Williams as a next opponent may have been done from a business perspective since he knew HBO wanted the fight. That MAY have been a big factor in his choice of Williams. Only Kelly knows that though.

 

Calzaghe better hope so.

 

Probably why Joe wanted to promote him? I don't know if I'd have gone with a novice either if I was Kessler. Joe might turn out to be a fine promoter, but it would have been a big risk for Kessler to find out.

 

I want to see Abraham - Froch.

 

I think that AA getting to the finals would be a HUGE upset...The guy was pretty much outboxed by Miranda. That isnt a good sign. To be honest barring a lucky knockout win I think that its more likely that AA goes 0-3

 

Hopefully Arthur comes in looking like he did against Miranda 2, and if he does with the same mindset a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE EATING CROW on this forum.
He will come in this tournament and I KNOW he will carry his power up well, I am judging my opininon based on the Mranda 2 fight. I DO NOT see ANYBODY knocking AA out, includes Kessler, Froch and J Taylor. I know he will be more active without coming in dehydrated like he did at 160 making him more of a dangerous counter puncher then he already is. AA against JT is going to come down to one of two things, is Jermain Taylor going to come out aggressive or not? He already mentioned he will "box" arthur in a interview, he has an excellent jab, but the guy in front of him also has excellent defense. I see AA catching JT in the later rounds with a straight right. AA KTFO JT ROUND 10.
AA vs Ward. Ward is a good fighter with deceptive speed and technical ability, but has does not have world class power. I see this fight as the most boring out of any of the AA opponents, with a lot of infighting. AA is to strong physically and is not going to let ward basically bear hug him the majority of the fight. I think this is the only fight where I see AA getting a decision. With the cleaner punches. AA toyed with Miranda at "166", his first fight higher then 160, Ward basically had a clinch fest with Miranda at 168. AA UD Ward.
AA vs Froch: The important thing here would be reach deficiency for AA. Froch does like to keep his distance and will throw his unorthodox uppercut at the hightest rate of any fight in his career trying to catch arthur underneath the gloves. Froch is a what I call a head hunter and rarely goes to the body, at least from what I have seen in his fights. Froch with his leaky defense is going to be a counter or hook away from seeing the canvas. AA's money punch is the left hook/upper cut. AA KTFO C FROCH ROUND 8 or 9.
The hardest fight is not Kessler but Direll, yes I said it, the greenest guy out of all of them. If Direll fights the smart fight, he beats AA rather easily, long, athletic and good reach. the only way arthur beats Direll is if he tries to bully him, unfortunately Arthur does that if he does not respect his opponents power or has an opponent hurt.
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I DEFINITELY CAN SEE AA in the Finals, but against whom I not sure of until I see how the long period of no fights for Kessler has affected him.

 

dirrell

 

Kessler will be hard for anyone to beat.

 

AA isnt slow
Self Paced is a better term to use. He unleashes quick hard combos.
I wish Taylor could have fought either Dirrel or Ward instead. IF AA KO's Taylor (not TKO) I would call for Taylor to retire.

ALLOT will be told from this fight.
If Taylor doesn't at least knock down AA but wins on points. Well that means Taylor will do well in the tourney but not win. IF AA outboxes Taylor and doesn't KO him. Well that isn't good for the other people as that means AA's skill set is ALLOT higher than they think. IF he KO's Taylor within 8. Well it will make for a better fight with Froch. Kesller wont care but Dirrel and Ward will be effected mentally. I say this because if they had to fight him first they would have the mentality of him being the smaller man they can walk down.

AGAIN
THANK YOU SHOWTIME!

 

It wasn't a sign that he was having the snot beaten out of him?

 

Fighters with the highest chance of beating AA

Kessler > Taylor > Dirrel > Ward > Froch

Kessler: due to his size, strength, solid Text book boxing skills, endurance, all around complete fighter.

Taylor: Due to his expolsiveness early on, can be very dangerous for AA specially cuz AA occasionally takes Flush rights to the side of the jaw when his in guard.

Dirrel: due to his height and reach as well as speed, it will take a long time for AA to cut the distance.

Ward: I don't see anything Ward has that will trouble AA

Froch: takes too many flush shots and has a warrior mentality, not good against a puncher.