Super 6, Round 2

Guys some great fights to look forward to here..Tough to predict as well..

1) Dirrell v Abraham. You may think I am crazy but I like Dirrell here, providing he has learnt the lessons from the Carl Froch fight. AA has never fought a guy of Dirrell's quality outside of Germany.  I always felt the Froch fight was too soon for him and that it would bring Dirrell on a ton and I still feel that. I can't see how AA can give a young guy like Dirrell a 4 round start and expect to wear him down like Taylor. Dirrell is not going to gas like Taylor. I can only see 2 outcomes here. A vicious KO for AA as he has explosive power in both hands and we don't know exactly how strong Dirrells chin is, or a fairlyish convincing points win for Dirrell..I am going to take a shot with Andre. This is a must win, he is at home, and AA is out of his German comfort zone. So my pick is Dirrell on Points but AA KO is the next likely scenario..

2) Kessler v Froch. Before the tourney started I was going to throw most of my roll on Kessler. Not anymore!. I believe this will be a 50/50 fight. I can't see this being anything but a war and I have a funny feeling Froch is going to make Kessler fight his kind of fight. Froch will struggle against guys like Ward and Dirrell (especially Ward) but in a war he is one tough guy to beat. He has a granite chin and the more in the trenches it goes the better he looks and the better he fights. Kessler in Denmark is usually money though but I wondered at the very outset what has Kessler got left. He looked awful against Ward. But this is a must win for him and its in front of his home fans. I think this will come down the old saying who wants it more. I see Kessler having success early and Froch coming on strong the late late rounds..I wouldn't advise a bet on this and this will be a rollercoaster and potential fight of the year. I have a sneaky feeling Froch stops Kessler late on in this after a brutal war. Either that or a LANDSLIDE Kessler points win. I am going to play the Froch KO..If Froch does not KO Kessler, I don't believe he can win this fight.

3) Ward v Green. For me this is an easy Ward win on points. I think Allan Green is very over rated and shouldn't be within an asses roar of this tourney. I expect Andre will box the face off Green all night without risking too much and I expect something like a 119-109 win for A Ward..Ward on Points

Comments and opinions welcome. I can definitely be swayed on some of these picks!

Well we agree on one thing Rich. Ward will give him trouble.
I think Ward with his discipline and skill has the best shot against him.

I made the mistake of saying Froch believes he can't go down. I meant to say he believes he can't be stopped.

Froch will destroy Abraham in my opinion. I believe he hits much harder than Miranda. I don't think Abraham will be effective with his peekaboo style in that match up. He can't afford to give up the early rounds like he did with Taylor. Maybe I'm just not a believer of Abraham yet. We'll see if he proves me wrong.

Also Froch used to box more earlier in his career as I believe he was a highly regarded amateur, I think recently he has fallen in love with his power and he has temporarily abandoned his other skills. He has them somewhere in his bag and will show his boxing prowess, if pressed, sometime in the tourney as I believe he'll do whatever it takes to win.

Froch uses reach/distance to his advatange very effectively as he usually has the longer reach in his fights. I just think he is grossly underrated.

hhhmmmm Me and Rich have disagreed about Froch in the past but I am going to back up my good buddy on this. I said on this forum Froch would beat Taylor after a bad start. I went with this because of Carl's strengths and Jermains weaknesses. Froch's main strenghts are 1) His confidence. Rightly or wrongly he is an undefeated fighter. He has massive faith and belief in himself and that has carried him to some memorable victories over Jean Pascal and Jermaine Taylor. I thought Kessler would destory him before the Ward fight, but if Kessler wins that fight he will have seriously earned it and I am actually going to play Froch in this spot (not overconfidentely). I agree Froch has a good chance against Abraham too, I think the location of that fight will be crucial with the home guy winning. 2) The guy is a warrior and has a big heart. That along with his granite chin and confidence makes him a tough guy to beat.

HOWEVER. I don't think for one second Froch has all the tools you need to win this. When he losses and he will lose, Froch's bubble will burst and burst in  a big way. His confidence will suffer and it will go downhill from there. If he has to face Andre Dirrell again or Andre Ward in the States the guy will get completely schooled over 12 rounds. The fight won't even be close. This now is Ward's to lose and I see only AA giving him trouble because of AA's massive power, he can trouble all.

I hope Dirrell was watching tonight. Pacman gave the perfect display to beat the peek a boo defence. Dirrell should be body punching all night long, attacking and moving at angles that confuses Abraham. Listen, I am not saying Dirrell is Pacman but the guy can box. The problem with Dirrell is mental toughness as to me AA is not to hard to outbox.

Mental toughness stops me unloading on Dirrell and I think this guy will fold when the pressure is on but he is a live dog in my eyes in this spot

Ward/Green postponed due to Ward knee injury:

LINK

I think Ward is scared like Pavlik was, or he can't pass the steriod test like Pacman. Yeah thats it I'm sure its one or the other,...maybe both

2 out of 3 for stage 2. Going to take some time this week and put together stage 3 picks...The more I think about it the more I will play BIG on Andre Ward. At the end of the day he will be defending his title and he has a chance to eliminate what in my opinion is his biggest threat in this tournament. Dirrell has skills but Ward is so mentally strong and has this way of making you fight his fight. I will be VERY interested to see this price. If it's anything below -400 I'm in! I will also play in running as I think Dirrell might win a few early before Ward figures him out..

In Froch v AA. I am leaning AA via late KO. Froch has made quite a bit of money by joining this tourney. Just watching his body language after the Kessler fight he looks like a guy that realises he is in way over his head in this tournament. AA is one of the hardest guys in the sport. He is going to drag Froch into the trenches and Froch will oblige. The one person Froch should not engage a war in is AA. Stylewise Dirrell was all wrong for him whereas Froch is all right for him. Froch has now been beaten (for the second time IMO) and will be a new father. I think this is an excellent time to fade him and AA I believe has opened only the very slight favourite. I love the value there. The only concern is if Froch can steal the first 4 or 5 rounds by fighting smart of his jab. He does have a strong chin and he may be able to hang on for the debatable decision. Still though I will be playing AA here to win and AA by KO.

Kessler v Green I am thinking of playing the under. Green won't want to take a 12 round beating like he just did against Ward. I expect both guys to come out throwing bombs and Kessler blasting him out of there in 4 or 5 rounds.

Will have a good think about it and will put a post together in the near future. Cheers guys