Arthur Abraham: Can the King Conquer the Super Six?
By Donald Stewart
When Carl Froch’s 27-1, 20 KO’s, hand was raised at the end of his fight against Arthur Abraham, 31-2, 25 KO’s, there were few who had watched the fight that were surprised.
A few commentators who had seen his previous fight and defeat against Andre Dirrell, 19-2, 13 KO’s, were slightly concerned, but those who had watched his career blossom were perplexed.
This was a fighter who had grown up with a reputation that was fearsome but the Super Six system had blown his star out of the orbit of the World titles he had held.
Prior to the Froch fight, Abraham was defeated by Andre Dirrell. For the first time in his career Abraham hit the canvas. Down in the 4th round he was eventually disqualified in the 11th for hitting his opponent when he was down.
The real low blow for Abraham was that an undefeated career was gone in a disqualification.
There was no doubt it…it was a foul. There was no doubt he was cut and bleeding badly. There was no doubt that Abraham was losing the fight. His redemption would come, it was believed, when he would win the vacant WBC Light Welterweight crown against Carl Froch in Helsinki.
Abraham has, since the Froch fight, claimed that he had over trained. He actually claimed that he was over trained. You watch Abraham coming out to the ring. He was gaunt, looked uncomfortable and had little or no energy. He couldn’t take any of the body punches Froch threw.
Many had questioned his work rate prior to the Froch fight. Those questions had been asked ever since March 2009 and his fight against Lajnan Simon.
There have been major doubts that he has the stamina to last twelve rounds and that has to be serious for any fighter. Froch was lauded in the UK as having given Abraham a boxing lesson, dominated him and extinguished his world title credentials.
Abraham’s next battle in the Super Six series, against Andre Ward 23-0 13 KO’s, has to see Abraham back on track otherwise his legacy will all be about the promise he showed but never realized. That would be a travesty for what promise Abraham showed. How terrible it would be that he was to lose his reputation because he made stupid and silly errors.
There are, however signs that he is attending to these shortcomings.
He will not go into the fight against Ward – semi final on the Super Six series – without having wiped the Froch fight from his memory banks. There are plans for him to get back in to the ring in April and this should suit the Abraham style well.
Abraham likes to be in the ring competitively every three or four months. The Froch fight had been postponed twice. There were legitimate reasons for this but for any fighter timing can be everything and for a boxer like Abraham, it was critical to why he went in to the ring and lost.
Sparring is all well and good but the thrill of the fight is not just for the spectator. When you hear the bell and you are ready to do battle the mindset is clear and the concentration in an arena should be little more than 100%.
Sparring is day to day. For some it is mundane. It does not produce the same thrill or pressure for a boxer to fight. Training to your peak means there is a peak and getting past it often means you struggle to regain it.
Often it creates the doubt in your head that if only you had fought three weeks ago when you felt good the win would be easy, now you might not manage it, now you might lose and then… you do.
Abraham went in to the Super Six Series unbeaten. His first fight against Jermain Taylor was a real test for him. Taylor fought and fought dirty. With sixteen seconds left on the clock Abraham caught Taylor clean and down Taylor went. His unbeaten record had been threatened by Taylor but it was intact.
Arthur Abraham had worked hard for that undefeated tag.
He won the IBF title in 2005 against Ikeke who was also unbeaten. Ten defenses followed. These were contests often against undefeated fighters or those whose pedigree was hard and unforgiving.
This game is, however equally unforgiving and when Arthur Abraham climbs in against Andre Ward for the WBA Super Middleweight title he will be hoping and have plotted that his warm up and his preparation could see him through to a final where a Froch rematch would possibly be the promoter’s dream.
If Abraham doesn’t perform on the night it will be another nightmare for him.