TBCB Predicts: 10/17 Super Middleweight Tournament
By Mike Hanson.
1) Carl Froch (25-0) vs. Andre Dirrell (18-0)
I will start this by saying two things. First I think Froch is wildly overrated in real life and in the game. I also think Dirrell is vastly underrated in the game. TB has Froch destroying Dirrell. Froch won 87-13 with a whopping 57 stoppages. Most common round was the 9th.
Mike’s Take – All aboard the upset train. Froch has two good wins against Pascal and Taylor. Pascal won’t get out of a phone booth which is the way Froch likes to fight. Taylor was up 9 rounds to 2 going into the final round. Dirrell will not stand in front of Froch and just tattoo him all night long. Froch gets beat up in this fight because he won’t keep his hands up. He is tough enough to go the distance if cuts don’t stop it. I’m almost willing to bet he gets beat by such a wide margin that he is the first to pull out of the tourney. Dirrell wide margin UD12, like 10 rounds to 2.
2) Arthur Abraham (30-0) vs. Jermain Taylor (28-3-1)
TB has this one closer than I thought with Abraham winning out 56-43-1. Most common outcome was an 8th round stoppage. 29 of Abraham’s wins came by stoppage. When Taylor won it was by decision.
Mike’s Take – I am on the upset train and I’m not getting off it. I think Taylor’s opposition far outweighs Abraham’s. With the rumor mill going on how great Jermain’s training camp has been I am going with Taylor by UD12. I think he racks up rounds early in the fight and doesn’t wear out late this time.
TB Predicts took the lead on me last time out as we both missed on Grano but I went with a gut feeling on Juarez and was wrong. TB Predicts sits at 12-6-1 and I’m at 11-7-1. This is a make or break weekend as I could fall 3 behind if I lose both.
While I like Taylor in the fight, winning a decision in Germany is nearly impossible. Hell they took away 5 points from Miranda just to get AA the split decision win.
I will have to remember next time to pick the fighter from England unless I think the other fighter can KO. Dirrell wins 8 rounds and loses the decision. I hope the American fighters get the same judging here in the US
I love reading the picks on this boxing magazine. You guys analyze the most intricate details and make great arguments!
Froch fought well on the inside and landed good punches. But let’s face it, Kessler’s a cut above this whole bunch at Super Middleweight. And no one’s as craft as Calzaghe was to outbox him either. Don’t forget, Calzaghe’s boxing skill gave Hopkins problems. Kessler will take Abraham to school and be too much for Ward.
It was a tough loss for Jermain Taylor. It will be interesting to see just how much this type of loss takes out of him going forward. Getting stopped is always tough to rebound from – especially mentally. Some fighters recover from it much better than others.
This is the 2nd stoppage loss in a row for Taylor against two “Top-5” Supper Middles. Sad to say, historically, this is a road or path well documented… and for most, it doesn’t get any better.
Abraham by my count landed 4 elbows to the face of Taylor …. it will be interesting to see if he can get away with that in the US. I still don’t get the Dirrell decision. Dirrell out boxed him, out landed him, hurt Froch, and was never hurt yet somehow lost. Hopefully Dirrell learned he has some power and will start sitting down on his punches some more. He rocked Froch repeatedly late in the fight.