By William Mackay: After group stage 1 of the Super Six tournament we have former IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham ahead of the pack with three points with WBC super middleweight Carl Froch and Andre Ward following closely behind with two points. Coming in with no points as of yet are Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler and Jermain Taylor, the losers of the group stage 1 contests. Taylor recently pulled out of the Super Six tournament, and his replacement will be chosen from the winner of the Allan Green vs. Sakio Bika fight which takes place next month in February.

The winner of that fight will be facing Ward on April 17th in Oakland, California. Whoever that fighter is, he has his work cut out for him as Ward looked almost unbeatable in defeating Kessler, the fighter who many people had picked to win the Super Six tourney, by a one-sided 11 round technical decision on November 21st.

Below I’ve outlined the group stage 2 fights coming up:

Andre Ward vs. Sakio Bika or Allan Green – Like I said, Bika and/or Green have a mountain to climb in facing Ward. Andre will be fighting at home in front of a huge audience, and he seems to fight really well with a huge crowd behind him rooting him on. Ward’s defensive and offensive skills are exceptional as is his hand speed. Green, a very fast puncher, would be the tougher fight compared to the slower and wilder Bika. However, I suspect that Ward will easily handle Green who I think will go into his shell like he did in his loss to Edison Miranda. Green looked intimidated in that fight and didn’t get his punches off. If he fights that way against Ward, this will be an easy fight for Andre.

Prediction: Ward by lopsided decision over Green or Bika

Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler – Froch has the luck of coming into this fight against Kessler who was softened up by Ward in his last fight. Froch needs to take advantage of this by going after Kessler hard from the start of the fight and to do anything he can to make it a rough fight. Froch needs to do all he can to upset Kessler and get him out of his game like Ward did to him in his last fight. The good thing for Froch is that he seems to naturally be good at fighting rough, so he has a shorter learning curve. He needs to make it physically hard for Kessler when he gets in close to him, because Froch won’t be a match for Kessler on the outside where Kessler is much more highly skilled than Froch. It may take some really brutally rough fighting from Froch to get Kessler upset enough to the point where he’s not thinking clearly. Kessler will probably be ready for Froch to do some extracurricular activity in the ring after seeing Froch’s fight with Dirrell, so Froch might have to make it tougher for him than he would a normal opponent. I think the fight comes down to whether Froch can rough Kessler up enough to get him upset to the point where he’s not thinking clearly. If Froch tries to box with him or knock him out, then I see Kessler easily beating Froch. But if Froch roughs Kessler up all night long it will be a different story and I can see Froch winning under those circumstances. I think that’s what Froch do, so I’m picking him to win.

Prediction: Froch by close 12 round decision

Andre Dirrell vs. Arthur Abraham – Dirrell lost a controversial 12 round split decision to Froch in his first fight of the Super Six tournament and he has a lot to prove to boxing fans still. Although Dirrell lost a fight that many boxing fans felt he should have won, he failed to distinguish himself in that fight because of his reluctance to trade with Froch. Dirrell looked timid much of the time and held Froch any chance he could get. If Dirrell is able to minimize his holding and stand and face down Abraham with both guns blazing, he has a chance to win this fight going away. But Dirrell can’t win it by clinching and falling on the canvas all the time like he did against Froch. Dirrell looked and fought like a wet noodle much of the time in his last fight and it caused him to throw away a fight that he could have very easily haven won had he just stood his ground and fought. Abraham brings pretty much the same qualities into the fight as Froch did. Abraham will be coming forward a lot trying to land a big shot to take Dirrell out. The one advantage that Dirrell will have in this fight, besides his speed, is his size. Abraham is only 5’10” and will be giving up four inches in height and three inches in reach to Dirrell. This could be a factor for Dirrell if he’s smart and stays on the outside using his jab. He can’t run though and is going to have to be willing to trade with Abraham if he wants to come out of this fight with a win.

Prediction: Dirrell by 12 round decision