Heart-Froch head-Kessler though if his chin holds up Ward is a live dark horse IMO. Barring miracles I don't see Dirrell progressing. I think King Arthur and Taylor have everything to show come Saturday, Abraham in showing whether the move up will allow him to let his hands go more, and for Jermain to show just what he has to offer.
I think the first round couldn't of been matched better. top 2 Americans/top 2 Europeans and the two with the most to prove. i think froch has the easiest fight. people mention froch/kessler next round, whats the other 2 fights?
Personally feel Ward is superior to Dirrell. Next two are Abraham vs Dirrell and Taylor vs Ward I think. WAR FROCH!!!
On the face of it Taylors price to win on saturday looks very very nice then you see the country the fight is in so anyone who puts a penny on him to win might aswell burn their money! It wouldnt surprise me if we have controversy about that fight on saturday, as usual really! I still think he has a chance for the tournament though, it depends if he trains hard enough, theres always been rumours of a few to many parties. I dunno what to predict for the whole thing but ive just got a feeling Taylor will put on a show somewhere and Froch will get completely schooled. Hardly bold predictions I know! Oh and one of Ward or Dirrell to get a great win or two.
Here are the odds from SkyBet (Overall Winner) Kessler 9/4 Froch 5/2 Abraham 5/2 Taylor 6/1 Dirrell 9/1 Ward 10/1 Surprised at the odds on Dirrell and Ward...
I fancy either Abraham or Ward...:verysad I'd love Froch to win it but this tournament will be the end of him..:-(
I'd like to see Taylor do well in this one as well. But you can't really have any confidence in him..... certainly not enough to put more than a £2 bet to nothing on a points win.
I've got Ward too, the kid is just so well rounded, with a good boxing IQ and very good skillset..has most ingredients you wonna see in a fighter, not getting flustered, boxing to his strengths, circling away from power, making the right decision etc However, there are slight questions over Wards chin and some scribes even think it will be is downfall. I'm thinking that's the $64k question. If you watch his earlier fights where he's standing straight line to his competition he was somewhat of a wild swinger and didn't have discipline to fire short, straight shots. And then fast forward to Miranda and he looked like a totally different fighter: switch hitting, short shots when Miranda would engage, rolling, tight defense, slipping -like night and freak'n day. Put his Olympic pedigree into the mix, I think the chin thing is over analyzing by the "experts". Having said that I think Ward has been buzzed on one or two occasions. What can we read into that? it was certainly nothing like the chicken noodle soup dance from Zab, but definitely a need to go on the bicycle for about 20 seconds after getting up...to get those feet back under him. I think it was just a lack of discipline from a young fighter with no respect for the contender he was facing - good learning experience vs. a cause for alarm, imo.
The chin will be checked quite severely. Froch, Abraham, Taylor & Kessler have all got a serious dig. If Kessler manages to down this kid, the others are going to jump all over him. I can even see boxers trying to outdo each other.