Super Six on Showtime is one of the greatest things to happen to boxing in years. We have six of the best fighters in and around the 168 pound weight class fighting each other in hopes of capturing the imagination of the public. A loss doesn’t mean you lose the tournament, which is a good thing for former Undisputed Middleweight Champion, Jermain Taylor.
Taylor drew a tough match with former IBF Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham and couldn’t get beyond the tight defense and pressure. Taylor wilts under pressure and cannot make it to the finish line. He has struggled with it and it was evident in both the Hopkins bouts, the Kelly Pavlik rematch, and of course the 12th round KO losses to Carl Froch and now Abraham, who landed a great right hand which sent Jermain to the floor in a heap.
Abraham picked up 3 points and will go on to face Andre Dirrell in his next tournament bout. Dirrell is 0-1 in this tournament, losing a split decision to Carl Froch. Froch got the nod and got 2 points for the win and is next up for Mikkel Kessler, one of the favorites in the tournament. Froch looked horrible against Dirrell through no fault of his own and it wasn’t Dirrell’s fault entirely that the fight was ugly. It was a bad mesh of styles and Dirrell is a mover and clincher and Froch has a hard time with these types of fighters. Kessler will mix it up and give Froch the chance to land his bombs. Dirrell’s style will give Abraham, his next opponent, fits but will certainly have his hands full with the strength of “King Arthur.”
Jermain Taylor is a very talented fighter and isn’t out of the tournament yet. He lost to what I consider the best fighter and my pick to win the super six, Abraham. Taylor faces Andre Ward in his next fight. Expect Kessler to walk through Ward and Taylor may just take a decision over Ward, giving him that much more confidence to carry on. He will need to win and have a great deal of confidence as Kessler will be next after Ward. Ward is no pushover but it’s hard to imagine him upsetting Kessler at this time. Ward and Dirrell, the two unproven commodities in the tournament are here to show their skills against the best super middleweights and Dirrell has already proven that he belongs and can be competitive. Ward will have to do the same with Kessler.
The four fighters with the most points after the next two stages will move on to the semi finals. The early picks have to be Froch, Abraham, Kessler, and Dirrell would be my guess with Abraham winning it in the end, although anything is possible here. This is an amazing thing for boxing and I would love to see this employed in other divisions. Imagine the heavyweight division having one of these or the welterweights? I would love to see Nikolay Valuev, David Haye, Alexander Povetkin, the Klitschko Brothers, and Eddie Chambers involved in something like this. Of course, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, JR., Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Andre Berto, and Joshua Clottey in another. Boxing needs some sort of playoff series. Let’s hope that the super six here succeeds and gets the promoters thinking about applying it to other divisions.
Manny Pacquiao – Miguel Cotto Nearing
On November 14, the super fight will take place between Filipino Superstar, Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto for the WBO Welterweight Title. This fight is bringing debate amongst many boxing fans. This is the most dangerous opponent that Pacquiao has faced in his entire career and this is the moment of truth. Can Manny take out a confident and powerful top welterweight?
I have read several places that Cotto will “run” from Manny, which is nonsense. The game plan for Cotto has to be to box, use that hard jab and time Manny coming in. Pacquiao has a tendency of backing up with his chin up and expect Cotto to try to exploit that with a left hook. Cotto would be foolish to run and trade punches with Manny in round one. He’d be carried out on a stretcher. He has to look at Ricky Hatton’s approach and where it got him. He ran right into the minefield and was blown away early. Cotto cannot risk it. Pacquiao carries a big punch and has wonderful timing, but this bout is far from a lock. This is a relatively even fight.
I am really interested to see what approach Pacquiao will employ when Cotto tries to control him from the outside. He will definitely be launching that left hand down the pike and it will land. Cotto’s chin has been questioned but he hasn’t been hurt all that much at 147 pounds. At 140, he was down, but hasn’t been really hurt since with the exception of the plastered fists of Antonio Margarito. Keep in mind too that Cotto went 11 rounds with Margarito, taking plastered fists to the chin and body all the way through. That speaks volumes to his toughness and ability to take a punch. Most other fighters crumbled from the loaded gloves of Margarito much earlier than 11 rounds.
So with Floyd Mayweather, JR., watching on and eagerly awaiting the winner, and Shane Mosley screaming “please fight me” to anyone that will listen, the two gladiators will go to war in a true super fight that could go either way. I cannot wait for November 14th. Fights like this and the super six tournament are pushing boxing back into the limelight.
Vitali Klitschko Faces Kevin Johnson
The WBC Heavyweight Champion, Vitali Klitschko, 38-2, 37 KO’s, will take on American Kevin Johnson, 22-0-1, 9 KO’s, on December 12, 2009. After an easy win over a fat Chris Arreola, Klitschko attempts to remove another pretender to the throne from the heavyweight picture, but he has selected a rather tough customer in Johnson.
Based on experience, this fight should not be happening but the division is slim pickings at this point, and Vitali, to his credit, is taking on the best available opponents. Johnson’s low KO rate is deceiving too. He has knocked out his last three opponents. In his last fight, he stopped another undefeated prospect in Devin Vargas, imposing his strength. Johnson is not only physically strong, but he is mentally strong and that is the part that is getting him into the rankings more than anything. It will take a lot for him to be discouraged and he has to know that he will not walk out of Switzerland with a decision win. He has to stop Vitali…not an easy thing to do.
Vitali will do more of the same. As George Foreman once said: “I don’t prepare for my opponents, they prepare for me.” Klitschko will stay the course, using his reach and keeping the distance as he chops away at his opponent. They eventually crumble or give up. Johnson will have to find a way to corner Vitali and get his punches off. This will be an interesting bout where we will find out just what Johnson brings to the game.
Be sure to enter RSR’s contest to win a free gift basket by picking the winner of Manny Pacquiao Vs Miguel Cotto.
