Logo

Photos by: Associated Press

by:

Joshuwa
"Ashyknuckles"
Jernigan


The opening fight began in Berlin, Germany, in the O2 Arena with a capacity crowd of 14,000 fans, where Abraham was the hometown fighter. The bell would sound as both guys came out looking to feel each other out, but Taylor began pressing the action by attempting to land a double and triple jab. Abraham, unphased, kept his guard high while immediately calculating the right time to land his counter shots. Taylor began to increase his punch output by going to the body of Abraham, which had a great affect, as Arthur would frequently reset after enduring a combination. However, as Taylor continued to dig, his punches began to lose accuracy, as he would throw several low blows, being penalized once in the process.

As the rounds went by, King Arthur had no problem closing the distance on his opponent, coming out of his defensive stance and landing stinging combinations to the head and body. A quick, hard combination popped Taylor’s back, but the veteran would bravely shake it off continuing to fight on. As the fight went on, both fighters had success in exchanging skillful lead shots and counters showing the type of ring generalship that led them to their previous world titles, respectively. After the eighth round, Taylor's punch output began to decrease as Abraham began to come on strong. Arthur repeatedly ripped hard combinations to Taylor's body as the former champion began to fatigue. It was obvious that Abraham was trying to set up a huge combination; he was just waiting for the right opportunity to attempt it. Arthur was very patient in the twelfth round, turning his opponent in the center of the ring and followed up with a lead left hook/straight right combination that dropped Taylor hard to the canvas. He ended Taylor’s night with a combination that split the guard and dropped Taylor flat on his back.

“I am a little hurt,” said Taylor after the fight, “but that comes with the territory. I was in the best shape of my life. He’s a very strong fighter. I give it up to him.” It was reported that Taylor went to the hospital and is being kept overnight for observation.

It was picture perfect punch that caught the former champion by surprise and ultimately took the remaining fight out of him with six seconds left on the clock. Jermain would not beat the count as he has been stopped three times in his last five fights. King Arthur (31 - 0, 25KOs) proved that he is a force to be reckoned with in this tournament as took the lead earning 2 points for the win and 1 point for the knockout. The loss brings Taylor to (28 - 4, 17KOs) as questions of retirement begin to arise. Both fighters will now enter Group Stage 2 as Arthur fights Andre Dirrell (18 - 1, 13KOs) next, and Taylor faces unbeaten Andre Ward (20 - 0, 13KOs) of Oakland.

In the second fight, WBC Champion Carl "The Cobra" Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) remained undefeated Saturday night in front of a sold-out hometown crowd where he handed Dirrell (19-0, 13 KOs) the first loss of his professional career. In a close fight, Froch attempted to land his trademark bombing right hand, but couldn't find a target due to the elusiveness of Dirrell. Dirrell frequently complained, held, fell forward on his opponent in order to avoid exchanging in close quarters. And though he landed the harder, more effective punches he didn't conduct himself in a manner fit for a champion. In the tenth round, Froch went up a point on the cards as referee Hector Afu took a point away from Dirrell for holding repeatedly, especially after being warned several times through the course of the fight. Dirrell caught Froch with a hard, clean left hook that stunned the champion, but was unable to take advantage of the champion in his rare, vulnerable state.

Dirrell and Froch continued to work and exchange through rounds 11 and 12, catching each other with solid jabs, although neither was really able to hurt the other. The fight stunk from rounds 1 to 12 with the judges giving Froch the split decision with scores of 115-112 twice for Froch and 113-114 for Dirrell.

Said Froch after the fight, “I definitely felt like I won from round 1 through round 12.” He went on to say “I’m not 100% satisfied because I like to feel like I was in a fight and I feel like I could go in there another 12 rounds and still beat Dirrell again.”

Froch earned two points for the win and will next face Mikkel Kessler in Group Stage 2.

Dirrell, who earned no points for his loss, spoke after the fight saying, “I worked my ass off in the gym. He came on strong in that last round but I boxed my ass off.” When asked about the point deduction, Dirrell continued, “I still don’t know why he (the referee) took the point from me. I don’t even remember a warning for leaning on the guy.”

Dirrell will next face Abraham. Said Dirrell, “Arthur is a warrior. He knows how to fight. I'll go back the gym and go the extra mile in preparations for him.”