Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch Fighting For More Than A Spot in the Semi-Finals

Added on Oct 11, 2010 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

The Super Six World Boxing Classic hit yet another snag when Andre “The Matrix” Dirrell became the third original participant to be forced out of the tournament as he recently revealed an injury will keep him from his scheduled bout with WBA champ Andre Ward and furthermore, will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the tournament altogether.

After scrambling to find a replacement following Mikkel Kessler’s September departure, the network execs at Showtime settled on the 41 year old Glen Johnson who hasn’t fought as a super middleweight in just over a decade. With them reaching as far as they did in obtaining the services of Johnson, it will be interesting to see who will replace Dirrell.

The one thing that is guaranteed is that with the Ward and Dirrell bout off, the WBC title that Kessler recently vacated will now be on the line on November 27 as “King” Arthur Abraham takes on Carl “The Cobra” Froch in Helsinki, Finland.

Abraham, who formerly held a title in the middleweight division, was excited at the opportunity to once again become a world champion.

“That is fantastic news,” King Arthur said. “It is like a dream coming true for me. Ever since I vacated my IBF Middleweight Title to battle it out with the world´s best fighters at Super-Middleweight, it has been my goal to become champion again. The moment has finally arrived. I am very excited and I cannot wait to get into the ring with Froch.”

The success of Abraham continued as he rallied late to stop Little Rock’s Jermain Taylor in the opening stage of the tournament. After Taylor finding success early in the fight Abraham found his range and began to turn the tables on Taylor. Rather than leave it up to the judges the hard hitting Abraham stopped Taylor in spectacular fashion with just six seconds left in the fight.

However, he wouldn’t be a fortunate is his second stage bout with Andre Dirrell. The Detroit fighter was able to keep Abraham from finding his rhythm and looked to be on his way to a comfortable points win before things took a turn for the worse for Abraham when he was disqualified for hitting Dirrell while he was already on the canvas. Abraham was trailing on all three scorecards at the time of stoppage, thus giving him his first loss as a professional.

Going into the tournament, his upcoming opponent in Carl Froch was the fighter that held the green WBC super middleweight world title. Much like Abraham, Froch found success in the first round and then was dealt the first loss of his career in the second stage.

In what many believe to be a controversial verdict, Froch walked away from his 2009 bout against Dirrell with a split decision win in his hometown of Nottingham, England. Froch then went on to face fellow European fighter, Mikkel Kessler earlier this year in Kessler’s native Denmark. At the end of twelve rounds, Kessler walked away with not only a unanimous decision, but Froch’s title as well.

With Andre Ward picking up the WBA title in the opening stage and then Kessler taking the WBC strap in the second round, barring a draw, this will mark the third consecutive stage of the tournament to crown a new champion. Their bout also has implications regarding the tournament as it sets the stage in terms of berths for the semi-final single elimination round.

While Abraham and Froch are both 1-1 heading into the third stage, Abraham is ahead of Froch in terms of points. Abraham earned three points following his knockout win over Taylor whereas Froch settled for two with his split decision win over Dirrell.