Taylor – Abraham Report

By Glen Anglin: With a single, last minute, right hand thunderbolt through the guard and to the chin of Jermain Taylor, Arthur Abraham stamped himself too many as the odds on favorite to win the Super Six tourney. However, I am not convinced.

The punch, a fast, powerful smash that was the second half of a left hook- straight right combination, switched off Taylor’s senses long before the brave Arkansan hit the canvas like a sack of cannonballs. The referee counted ten over him, which was pointless. He was as knocked out as a boxer gets.

Prior to the final punch, the fight could be divided into two parts. Taylor, using good punching technique and rate of fire, won the first 4-5 rounds. Abraham has excellent defense, and although Taylor was not battering him, he was outworking him for the majority of this part of the match.

The judging the second part of the fight was a classic exercise in quality vs. quantity subjectivity. From round 5 until the final dramatic Abraham right cross, the rounds generally went as follows: Taylor punched more and did less damage per punch and Abraham punched less and did more damage per punch. Taylor, try as he might, could not solve the Abraham defensive puzzle. During this portion of the match, Abraham absorbed what Taylor had to offer, mostly on his gloves and arms, and then lashed out with his go-for-broke, whirling combinations. Effective though these combinations were, they were infrequent, which made most of the rounds difficult to judge.

Abraham showed the patience, discipline and power that have enabled him to outlast all of his recent opponents in a similar manner. Displaying the countenance and chin of an Easter Island monolith, he covered up with his strong hands held high, blocked head and body punches equally well, and bided his time until Taylor’s punches became fewer and weaker.

Taylor came to the fight in shape, hustled, tried, punched and showed the spirit and skill that made him a world class boxer and two-time victor over Bernard Hopkins. He did not ‘hit the wall’ as in previous fights. He was in the contest until the climactic punch. It was a disappointing ending for one of boxing’s good guys.

Had the fight gone to decision, Abraham would have won, reflecting the judges appreciation for his defense and damaging punching. However, Taylor was the more active fighter throughout most of the contest. I had Abraham a one point victor had it not become academic with only seconds left.

One reason that Abraham generates such force on almost every punch is that he punches so sparingly. Very few boxers can succeed with such a low punch rate. Although Abraham is a very talented boxer with a singular set of skills, he can be decisioned by a quality opponent who does not become arm weary and who can avoid catching an Abraham bomb late in the fight. The recipe for victory over Abraham is to out-hustle him in the early rounds and survive him in the latter rounds. Both Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler can do what a faded Jermain Taylor could not. JGA

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