BoxRec

Abraham's the number 2 guy in this tourney, Kessler's yet to show his current form, but has to be the number 1 until then.

It's difficult to say how AA will do against Dirrell. It took 7 rounds and a point deduction to wake a petrified Dirrell into life, and when he did step up, he was knocking chunks out of Froch inbetween running rings around him technically. Now he might not have as easy a time of it with Abraham's defence, but I could definitely see him stealing a lot of rounds. It'll be interesting to see if Dirrell can put a dent in Abraham, he had Froch shaken to his boots on a couple of occassions, but Froch's defence is appalling at the best of times so it's not a great gauge.

I could see the fight being a baptism by fire for Dirrell, Froch was never able to pin him down and force him to fight, when he did, Dirrell showed the kind of punch selection and handspeed you just dont see above middleweight. Neither fighter's a dead cert, Abraham's got the goods, but Dirrell might be the sort of operator who takes full advantage of AA's style.

I'm expecting Kessler/Ward and Abraham/Dirrell to be a lot tougher, closer fights than they appear on paper.

Abraham is awkward, strong and carries his KO power late. He hides behind a very tight defense and then attacks in powerful offensive bursts. Lulls them to sleep and then goes on the attack. He's dangerous and difficult to beat especially in Germany.

But he is vulnerable, and does have stamina issues. I wondered whether his output would increase with the move to 168, with weight making at middleweight being to blame for his low workrate. However he fought Taylor in exactly the same manner as he's fought his previous fights, sitting behind a tight guard and attacking in sporadic bursts.

He's efficient. But there are some clear flaws there to be exploited.

I think Taylor was surprised by Abraham's hand speed. He was much faster than Taylor, who's supposed to be pretty fast himself.

Terry D wrote:

G0mez wrote:

Hagler2002 wrote:
It was his second fight at the weight.

You referring to his catchweight Miranda rematch fight?

I cant remember him ever fighting at super middle before but maybe im wrong.

Either way, i don't know how anyone couldn't be impressed by Abraham.

He could have only topped it by wearing his Smurf outfit... i suppose the ostrich suit was ok upon reflection.

Imagine, being knocked out by a man in a smurf suit ?

He looks like he is wearingf a cock and balls on his head. I would not say that to his face though.

i've never seen it like that but now u mention it