Macklin wants Paul Smith to go after Abraham early with body shots

By Boxing News - 02/20/2015 - Comments

abraham55(Photo Credit: Sebastian Heger) By Scott Gilfoid: Former world title challenger Matthew Macklin thinks that Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) should take the fight to WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) early in their fight this Saturday in attacking his body with left hooks when they meet at the O2 World Arena in Berlin, Germany.

Macklin thinks that Smith can wear Abraham out if he goes after his body with punches. Macklin thinks that Smith fell behind early in the first Abraham-Smith fight last September by not throwing enough punches in the first six rounds. This is why Macklin wants Smith to go after Abraham this time by attacking his body and throwing more shots.

The danger here for Smith is if he goes after Abraham early in the fight, he could very well run into something big from the German based fighter and wind up getting knocked out for his troubles. Smith was getting worked over by an out of shape Abraham the last time they fought. Just imagine what an in shape Abraham will do this time around if Smith goes right into the teeth of his offense.

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“Paul Smith has got a beautiful left hook to the body, doesn’t throw it enough in my opinion and I think it’s a shot that he should be looking to utilize,” Macklin said via Sky Ringside. “Don’t wait until the sixth or seventh round; throw it early on – first round straightaway. Really take the wind out of his sails, take his legs away.”

For Smith to be able to throw body shots, he’s going to need to stand in front of Abraham and leave his head unprotected long enough to go to the body. That might not be the smartest thing in the world for Smith to be doing against a puncher like Abraham, because he could level Smith if he has a free shot at his head.

I think the reason why Smith didn’t throw a lot of punches to the body of Abraham last time because he was worried about getting nailed with big shots. You have to realize that Smith has been knocked out in the past by George Groves and James DeGale, neither of which have the kind of punching power that Abraham does.

As such, it stands to reason that if Smith was knocked out by the likes of DeGale and Groves, then the chances are high that Abraham will do the same thing on Saturday night if Smith starts throwing body shots like Macklin wants him to.

If Macklin tried following his own advice in a fight against Abraham, I think he would be knocked out within three rounds by Abraham. What Macklin is telling Smith to do is pure suicide. If he follows that poorly thought out plan, he’s going to get destroyed by Abraham in lightning fashion.

Smith is going to have to cover up more in this fight on Saturday night than he did the previous time he fought Abraham, because there’s going to be more punches thrown at him this time around. It would be best if Smith followed Martin Murray’s style of fighting by using the high guard for the entire 2 rounds in order to block as many of Abraham’s punches as possible.



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