By Joseph Taylor:

Andre Ward 23-0 (13 KO’s) Arthur Abraham 32-2 ( 26 KO’s)
“SUPER SIX SEMI FINALS”

Tale of the Tape

Age- 27 31
Height- 6’1″ 5’10”
Weight- 168 lbs. 168 lbs.
Reach- 73″ 72″
Stance- Orthodox Orthodox
Alias- S.O.G. (son of god) King Arthur

First lets see how Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham and Glen Johnson made it to the semi finals. Points awarded for tournament goes as follows. 3 points for a KO victory, 2 points for a SD, UD, WIN. 1 point for a draw. no points for a loss.

Stage 1.
Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor- Abraham wins by KO round 12. 3 points for Abraham with a KO victory.
Andre Ward vs. Mikkel Kessler- Ward wins by TD, Fight stopped because of a cut caused by an head butt.
2 points for Ward.
Andre Dirrell vs. Carl Froch- Froch wins by UD. 2 points for Froch.
Jermain Taylor retires. Allen Green replaces Jermain Taylor

Stage 2.
Arthur Abraham vs. Andre Dirrell- Dirrell wins by DQ, round 11 ( oddly enough, no Oscar nomination was awarded to Dirrell). Abraham remains at 3 points
Andre Ward vs. Allen Green- Ward wins by UD, receives 2 points.
Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler- Kessler wins by UD. 2 points for Kessler.
Andre Dirrel leaves tournament, due to injury, also Mikkel Kessler leaves tournament with eye injury.
Glen Johnson replaces Kessler

Stage 3.
Arthur Abraham vs. Carl Froch- Froch wins by UD. Abraham remains at 3 points.
Andre Ward would have fought Dirrell, but Dirrell left the tourney after stage 2, Ward get a pass into the semi- finals. To stay busy Andre Ward fights Sakio Bika, Wards wins by UD.
Allen Green vs. Glen Johnson- Glen Johnson wins by TKO, round 8, Johnson receives 3 points
Glen Johnson, 3 points, Carl Froch, 4 points, Arthur Abraham, 3 points and Andre Ward, 4 points, advance to the semi-finals

Semi-Finals
Andre Ward vs. Arthur Abraham, May 14 Th 2011
Glen Johnson vs. Carl Froch, June 4th 2011

A lot of talk has been made about how bad this tournament played out, with three of the original six fighters pulling out of the tournament, Jermain Taylor, left after first round. Andre Dirrel and Mikkel Kessler left after second round. Glen Johnson replaces Kessler Then adding Allen Green and Glen Johnson. Allen Green replaced Jermain Taylor after the first round.

Jermain Taylor was knocked out by Arthur Abraham in the 12th round. After that KO, Taylor retired from the sport of boxing. His replacement,Allen Green, went on to loss both fights he had in this tournament. once to Andre Ward and the other to another replacement fighter, Glen Johnson. Glen Johnson fights in the other semi final bout next month against Carl Froch.

Say what you want about this tournament, the media sure has discredited this tournament, even so much as to call it a failure. What do they know? this tournament has giving Boxing fans a schedule to mark on the calenders. Even when a boxer has to pull out of the tournament, someone fills in a they keep the fights coming.

Yes we would love to have seen Andre Ward vs. Andre Dirrell, This would have been a great fight for fans. Two American boxers going at it in the squared circle. we did get something like that with, Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander, but that fight was not good at all. Alexander quit! he gave up when going got tough. simple as that. The hype for that fight was 10x’s better then the actual fight, but at least we got to see two American born Boxers square off for a few rounds.

Now that the semi -finals are set to take place, with Ward vs. Abraham being the first of the two this Saturday on Showtime. Fans and media alike have Ward as the favorite. They’re all overlooking Abraham’s power. Arthur Abraham is coming off two losses in the Super Six. Do not expect him to go down easy. Abraham will win this fight if its the last thing he does, which could be the last thing he does if he is to loss.

Arthur Abraham
“Keys to victory”

1. Throw punches.
All Abraham needs to do is throw punches.
2. Stay busy.
do not give up early rounds to Andre Ward, expecting him to get tired. Ward will adapt and so far has always prevailed.
3. Test the chin.
Arthur needs to find out early if Ward can handle his power. Normally Abraham Wait’s till the later rounds to fire the KO shots, but this time he needs to fire them early, rounds 1-3 are pivotal rounds for Abraham. Abraham has to Power to drop any and all of his opponents, That’s how he wins this fight also, KO round 6!!

Andre Ward
“Keys to victory”

1. Pressure.
Do what Ward does best, ( I do not mean head butt) win the early rounds, keep building points.
2. Last.
Last 12 rounds, all the way till the last bell sounds, Abraham will try to end the fight late as he normally always does. so during the rounds 10, 11, 12 stay away from Abraham’s power punches.
3. Stay focused.
Rounds 10, 11, 12 will be the rounds when Abraham will try for the KO. Stick to the game plan, keep adding points. Points is how Ward will win this fight.

When the 2011 year began, there were two fights scheduled that should have made fight fans around the world, jump for joy, both were to be aired by Showtime. One was, Joseph Agbeko vs. Abner Mares, this fight never took place, due to injury suffered by Agbeko. The other fight was, Andre Ward vs. Arthur Abraham. Everything about this fight is so exciting, Ward has never lost a fight, Abraham has to win if he plans on having a successful career in Boxing. A loss and Abraham should just retire, or at least forget about fighting for a title for a long time..

On a short note, Chris Arreola will be facing Nagy Aguilera on the same night.
Anyone buying a future bout between Chris Arreola vs. Antonio Tarver. could be a good fight.
Posted by Joe