Home Boxing News The Son of God keeps his crown against the King

The Son of God keeps his crown against the King

Some 18 months after the Super 6 originally kicked off with Arthur Abraham stopping Jermain Taylor we were finally on the verge of knowing one half of the final. Abraham, who had suffered loss to Andre Dirrell and Carl Froch was facing the tournaments only unbeaten fighter Andre Ward in the first Semi Final. The bout, held at the Home Depot Centre in California was to be a surprisingly entertaining bout though really ended up showing the difference in class between the two men.

Abraham started the fight quicker than he had started any of his previous Super 6 bouts and although Ward would out work him through the opening round it seemed like Abraham was aware that he would need to work hard. What Abraham did throw in the opening round was mainly the jab whilst fighting behind his tight guard, though he looked more active than he had done in long time. Ward though was too slick and moved well to avoid many of the shots thrown by Abraham. Both fighters would up the activity in the second round with Ward landing more shots though it seemed like he was respectful of Abraham’s power and keeping the fight at a range and pace that suited him. Abraham, coming in behind the trademark high and tight guard was trying to close the distance and succeeded towards the end of the round with a couple of flurries. It was a round that could have been scored either way.

Abraham started the third round landing two stiff and hurtful jabs that forced Ward back before Ward landed his own snaking jab. Abraham was starting to have real success during the round and landed several solid power punches. Ward would take the punches well, though he was put on the back foot in a round that seemed to clearly be an Abraham round. Ward came out for the fourth round and managed to take away the momentum Abraham had started to gain. Abraham’s guard took much of what Ward threw though it was the sheer work rate of Ward that won him the round. Late in the round both fighters were told to behave by the referee after a number of infractions, though no points were taken it seemed obvious that the referee didn’t want to see the fight become a dirty messy one of holding and wrestling. The round ended with Ward looking scintillating and landing a number of clean, hard and clear shots as he closed out the round looking fantastic.

Ward started the fifth like he had ended the fourth and looked brilliant in the opening 30 seconds or so. Ward was starting to take over the bout and was landing the energy sapping body shots that have long seemed like a key to hurting Abraham. Both fighters would again by chastised by the referee as the bout again started to turn messy with holding and wrestling tactics from both men. At the end of the round Ward seemed to have taken a slight lead due to his output more than anything else. In the sixth round Abraham landed a number of hooks to the body and despite Ward again landing more shots the hard thudding blows to the body were almost certainly part of a plan to slow Ward down. Whatever the game plan was Abraham was the fighter looking tired and at the end of the sixth round seemed to be running on fumes.

We were in the second half of the fight and Ward was looking like he was in the lead, he was too fast, too active and Abraham was forced to turtle up as he tried to catch his breath. Abraham was walking forward in the seventh behind his guard though he was throwing nothing at all pinned behind his own guard. Ward was really taking complete control of the bout and making Abraham look slow and ineffective in the process. It had been a completely one sided round and you could see Abraham was mentally being broken down as he walked into his corner looking disgruntled. The eighth round was another one that started with Ward stamping his authority from the off. Abraham was again inactive and he looked wild when he did throw, almost as if he was putting everything into his punches and hoping to land a fight changing desperation shot. Abraham was throwing from the hip and and missing as Ward’s control of the bout seemed to be growing, Ward was becoming more confident and almost certainly was well ahead of the fight after eight.

The ninth round saw Ward again starting faster though Abraham did manage to have some success, his first in a number of rounds as he started to throw his jab. Abraham’s work rate though was again so low that Ward was comfortably taking the round. Ward was doubling up the jab, mixing it up and using his hand-speed to keep Abraham behind his guard. With 3 rounds left it was becoming obvious Abraham was needing a knock-out to win, though he wasn’t landing anything of note and never looked able to land a KO blow. In fact through the tenth round it started to seem like it was going to be Ward causing a stoppage. The American was landing hard clean shots to Abraham’s face and had started to redden the left side of the challengers face.

Going into the championship rounds it was appearing as if Abraham was heading into his third defeat in four bouts. The eleventh round saw more action from Abraham who landed a number of hard clean shots though they didn’t seem to ever budge Ward who seemed to take them in his stride and come back with a number of clean fast shots. Abraham was looking for 1 punch in the final 3 minutes to try and save his career at the top level, the way the men were fighting made it seem like an impossibility. Abraham was opening up more than he had done in the middle rounds and landed several left hooks as he threw the caution to the wind. He would mark up Wards face in a round that saw Ward holding repeatedly to try and stop Abraham’s onslaught. The round was an Abraham round though he had failed to score the stoppage the he ultimately needed.

My score: 118-111

Official cards
120-108
118-110
118-111

Ward moves to 24-0 (13) as a professional and will meet the winner of Carl Froch v Glen Johnson whilst Abraham falls to 32-3 (26). Whilst the immediate future for Ward is obvious the future for Abraham is a bleak one. A possible retirement, or a move back to Germany to fight back in obscurity is likely. Abraham had long struggled to make the middleweight limit and now appears too small to fight competitively at Super Middleweight limit. Abraham’s future really is one that doesn’t seem bright at all.

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