BoxRec

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=1299

Obvious picks you might say but Coldwell has been chillingly accurate with his predictions recently. There's also an update on Ryan Rhodes' training. All feedback appreciated.

Good read.

Jones could've stopped hanshaw any time he wished.

Roy seemed to not want to knock people silly when he knew the fight was won.

I think the Tito fight might have been an example too.

Good read. I've picked a late stoppage win for Carl all along, but I have to admit that I'm getting very jumpy about that. Can't even say exactly why, but I've reached the stage where a Dirrell points win is looking plausible. Hope Coldwell gets it right though and the American is ground down.
Taylor looks big against Abraham and I think he'll give King Arthur his toughest fight to date, but don't see him holding Abraham off until the final bell.

my prediction is froch by stoppage, against another very athletically talented fighter.

i predict froch to possibly take some flush, nasty looking shots and grind out a win. he won't allow himself to lose this: it's at home and it's his night. however, i reckon many of us will be wondering how much longer carl can keep doing this, as it could be a punishing fight.

G0mez wrote:Good read.

Jones could've stopped hanshaw any time he wished.

Roy seemed to not want to knock people silly when he knew the fight was won.

I think the Tito fight might have been an example too.

Yes, the Tito fight was. And the Lacy fight and the Sheika fight.

Yeah that's a good read. Froch by KO in the second half of the fight and Taylor on points (despite the location)

Both Froch and Abraham by late stopage are the logical picks - I think Carl should pull it off on home ground, he'll need to keep his foot on the pedal though.

Taylor, I think, has a great chance at the upset. I've always rated AA very highly, tough as hell, packs a sickening punch and is very crafty. But Taylor, when he hits his stride, is right up there with the best in the world: fluid, fast, hard punches, and a great jab. I can see him bouncing shots off AA early on, he could bust him up badly.
Question is, can he hold it together for 12 rounds? Maybe he will, lightning striking twice and all that.

I've got Taylor for the upset, late stoppage or points.

How are the Americans betting on this fight?

Are they as patriotic as us Brits as siding with their man?

It wdnt surprise me if Taylor won. he is smart, bit bigger, has a great jab and decent power. in the US id tip him

abraham's hands look a lot bigger than Taylor's. just saying, like...

I've got Dirrell and Taylor.

Last week I was edging towards Froch and Abraham. A testament to the quality of the match-ups being served up by the tourney.

My reasons are pretty poor, Dirrell's had 2 top level fights (chock full of Froch's weaknesses) to study. I think he'll be very cagey and conservative before exploding on openings. Froch's defence is his offence and sooner or later he'll get stung and return fire only to be caught with the third or fourth punch in combination thrown by Dirrell, he wont see the big ones coming. Dirrell's a blinding finisher at times, if Froch gets hurt in an exchange, I dont think he'll be able to fight his way out of trouble without getting himself in deeper. It's a bit of blind guesswork given that Dirrell's still unproven, more of a hunch than reasoned thinking.

I'm going with Taylor partly because of the form he showed in the Froch fight and partly because Abraham's fought noone remotely as good as Taylor, I also think the Miranda win has flattered him a fair bit. Taylor's got nothing to lose, nobody's labelling him as the next big HBO star anymore, I think he'll finally be fighting without baggage and at his best, Taylor's as good as they come. Stamina's the big issue, but I think he'll make it.

I've picked Froch and Taylor both to win, but I can't say I'm confident with either. Froch is going to be outboxed at some point, I just don't see Dirrell as the man to do it at this stage in his career and away from home. He has it all to prove and I wouldn't be overly surprised if he pulled it off, but its hard not to back Froch for that match- up. As for Taylor Vs Abraham I still can't really pick a winner to this one. Abraham hasn't looked very good in his last two fights, in my opinion, but of course that was down at 160 where he's been struggling with the weight, so maybe 168 will suit him. That said, Taylor is a big step up for him and is used to mixing with top fighters. Taylor has the tools to box Abraham to a close decision I think, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets stopped again.

Counter-puncher wrote:abraham's hands look a lot bigger than Taylor's. just saying, like...

Abraham's hands are mini sledgehammers. Taylor has to avoid them.

taylor has a weird frame, some of it (height/shoulders) seems more LH sized some of it (calves/ankles, hands) more LM sized

Coldwell picked himself against Cruiserweight John Anthony at a recent Central Area Council meeting, he certainly got that one wrong!

Trouble is, if Taylor does well and it goes the distance, it's likely going to go to AA, regardless. There's so much at stake, that Taylor will really need to stop him, unlikely, or win pretty much every round - again unlikely.

I reckon Taylor will out box AA, but lose a controversal decision.