“King” Arthur Abraham opened his Super Six campaign with a 12th-round knock-out of American fighter Jermain Taylor in Berlin on Saturday.
With an unblemished record of 31 wins and now 25 knock-outs, it was a punch straight through Taylor’s guard at the end of the final round that left the American pole-axed on the canvas.
This was Taylor’s fourth career defeat and his second consecutive loss after he suffered a last-round defeat to WBC super-middleweight champion Carl Froch in April.
“I’m really disappointed and pretty sad, it was a hard punch — no questions,” said Taylor, who had to be revived and taken to a hospital after the bout as a precaution. “I’m not finished yet: I can win my next two fights.”
But in front of his home fans at the O2 World Arena, Abraham was delighted to begin the Super Six tournament with an impressive performance.
“He is a brave fighter, anyone can see that, but I gave everything to win,” said former IBF middleweight champion Abraham, who will box Andre Dirrell on Jan. 23 in the US.
The American lived up to his “Bad Intentions” nickname when he was warned in the second round for a low punch, but the US-born German fighter finished the second and began the third with a flurry of bodyshots.
There was an angry exchange between the pair at the end of the round when Abraham appeared to punch Taylor in the back of the head and the former WBC and WBO middleweight champion tore into his opponent at the start of the fourth. Taylor later landed a punch after the bell, but Abraham retaliated with two strong combinations during the fifth.
In the last round, the German caught Taylor with a devastating combination, but it was a final punch through the guard that put Taylor out for the count.
The Super Six will see both fighters also taking on Andre Ward, Froch, Dirrell and WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler, with the top four ranked boxers at the end of the tournament fighting in semi-finals with the final set to take place in 2011.
■FROCK V DIRELL
AFP, NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND
Carl Froch narrowly held on to his World Boxing Council (WBC) super-middleweight title in a split decision win over an elusive Andre Dirrell at the Trent FM Arena Nottingham yesterday.
The Briton ended the unbeaten record of his US challenger as he made a second defense of his world title in his first fight as part of a global tournament to determine the best super-middleweight in the world over the next two years.
Froch stalked Dirrell around the ring but could not trouble his challenger until the latter rounds before he won by the judges’ scores of 115-112, 115-112 to 114-113 against.
Froch said it was Dirrell’s fighting style that cost him.
“To win the WBC title you can’t expect to steal a decision like he was trying to do, by hitting and running and complaining. I was in there to fight, and he wasn’t,” Froch said. “Judges don’t like to see fighters run and steal a fight without doing any work. I was the one trying to land shots and make it a fight.”
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