By Paul Strauss: It’s always fun to speculate about upcoming fights, and to test theories about who is really the best. Records are examined to see if there’s padding. Height and reach can be a be factor. Punching power often is the significant ingredient. Timing, speed, chin whiskers, the referee and on and on are of consequence. Other things that make it enjoyable are the difficulty in predicting the importance of intangibles such as mental preparedness, heart, outside influences, i.e hometown crowd, negative publicity, personal problems and a gamut of others. Sometimes it’s just a hunch. Take a shot picking winners of the next round of the Super Six.
This is how things stand right now:
Andre Ward’s record is as follows: Mikkel Kessler = Dec Win 2 pts. Allan Green = Dec Win 2 pts Andre Dirrell ? Total = 4 pts..
Arthur Abraham’s record is as follows: Jermain Taylor = KO Win 3 pts. Andre Dirrell = DQ Loss = 0 pts. Carl Froch ? Total = 3 pts
Mikkel Kessler’s record is as follows: Andre Ward = Dec Loss = 0 pts. Carl Froch = Dec Win = 2 pts. Allan Green ? Total = 2 pts
Carl Froch’s record is as follows: Andre Dirrell = Dec Win 2 pts. Mikkel Kessler = Dec Loss = 0 pts. Arthur Abraham ? Total = 2 pts.
Andre Dirrell’s record is as follows: Carl Froch = Dec Loss = 0 pts. Arthur Abraham = DQ Win = 2 pts. Andre Ward ? Total = 2 pts.
Allan Green’s record is as follows Andre Ward = Dec Loss = 0 pts. Mikkel Kessler ? Total = 0 pts.
Here’s an interesting scenario for the next round of bouts.
. Let us start with a shocker. Andre Ward gets upset by the similarly talented boxer Andre Dirrell. In his first two fights, Ward was successful because he was able to out speed and out box his two opponents. Dirrell is equally as fast, and might even transition to the southpaw stance better than Ward. Ward was able to get inside with Kessler and Green to smother their punches, and to punish them with his own short shots. His ducking and weaving presented them with a head problem. Specifically, Ward’s was always lower than theirs and meant the top of his head was often in their chest or face. That will prove more difficult with Dirrell, who has very good foot speed and agility. Dirrell will have to use a lot of feints and demonstrate he has a great jab, as well as stamina. If Ward lunges in with his head down, Dirrell will need to catch him with upper cuts and put a follow up shot behind it. The pressure Ward will bring will be intense for the underdog. Dirrell will have to prove his mettle both physically and mentally. Up to now Ward has proven his mental toughness. He has been to the big show several times, and has always come out victoriously; whereas, Dirrell came up a bit short in his first attempt in Nottingham. Also, Abraham fans think their man was coming on strong, and would have gotten to Dirrell. Howvever, go with a big upset and pick Dirrell. That would tie Ward and Dirrell at 4 pts.
Carl Froch is a supremely confident, strong fighter, and he sincerely believes he is going to stop King Arthur. However, Froch will find it very difficult to penetrate the King’s defenses. In trying to so, he will take foolish chances by taunting him (hands down) and make unorthodox movements in hopes of opening up the King. Instead, those foolish efforts will leave him exposed and out of position, which will prove costly. Like the old saying goes, anyone King Arthur can hit, he will stop. Froch has proven to have a very good chin, but not against someone who hits like the King. Look for a KO win here for King Arthur, which will launch him back into the lead with 6 pts.
Mikkel Kessler is back on the winning track, and looks to derail newcomer Allan Green right out of the tournament. He watched intently as Ward nullified just about everything Green tried to do which wasn’t much. He believes he has learned the necessary lessons to beat The Ghost. However, Kessler doesn’t have Ward’s speed or boxing ability and might find it difficult to get a passing grade. He doesn’t move his head nearly as much as he should, nor does he step off to the side after punching to get out of the way of counters. If he repeats that pattern against Green, waive zn dag, tot ziens to the Dane. Green looked bad against Ward, but he can still send the KO punch by ex[ress delivery. Mikkel might wonder what happened to that gentle zephyr replaced by the cannonball express. Look for another upset. This time it will be a knockout victory for Green and 3 big pts.
If this scenario proves correct, then we would be losing Kessler and Froch. Not many would have predicted that before the start of things.
The least likely of these projections seems to be Dirrell’s upset over Ward. If there really is a zone that athletes get into, Ward is in it. He seems to be seeing punches better than just about anyone else, and he is like a juggernaut getting stronger as he rolls along. Hence, we might see a tie at 6 pts each for Ward and Abraham, with Green a distant third. When Ward and Abraham meet, there will be no DQ, and there won’t be any fading down the stretch by Ward. There’s a good chance Ward will turn the King’s earmuffs into so much useless fluff.