By Sean McDaniel: Former IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KO’s) plans on fighting smart in his next Super six tournament fight against Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KO’s) on October 2nd at the Chapiteau de Fontvieille, Principauté de Monaco, Monaco. Abraham, 30, was beaten in his last fight in the Super Six tournament by Andre Dirrell in an 11th round disqualification defeat in March. Abraham was trailing in the fight and made the mistake of hitting Dirrell after he had slipped on the canvas. The referee disqualified Abraham for hitting Dirrell while he was down.

Abraham, speaking to Fightnews.com, said “I simply must box more cleverly. Now it’s the time to defeat Carl Froch.” What Abraham must do immediately is increase his punch output if he wants to get by Froch. Abraham can’t afford to wait until the last three rounds of the fight to go after Froch. This is essentially what Abraham did in his loss to Dirrell. He let Andre win the first nine rounds, and then desperately tried to knock him out in the 10th and 11th rounds.

Abraham has to be busier against Froch, because he has a good chin and might be able to stand up to Abraham’s shots late in the fight if Abraham waits too long to go after Froch. Boxing Froch might not be a smart either. Abraham is better off going after Froch, pressuring him and forcing him to fight really hard. This is what Mikkel Kessler did in his win over Froch in April.

Kessler initiated the action and had Froch on the defensive for pretty much the entire fight. Froch did come back and rally a little in the later rounds of the fight, but by then he had given away too many crucial rounds and ended up losing the fight by a narrow 12 round decision. Abraham has to work harder from the 1st round and focus on hitting Froch as hard as he can to get him into a war.

Abraham stands a much better chance of beating Froch in a brawl then he does if he tries to box the taller Froch. I’m not sure if Abraham has the boxing skills needed to beat Froch in a tactical boxing match. Hopefully, Abraham doesn’t waste time trying to box because he’s better off going right after Froch from the start of the fight.