Showtime’s Super Six Tournament gets off to a sensational start with the Arthur Abraham electrifying KO 12 of Jermain Taylor. Here is the round-by-round account, with special guest commentary from world-renowned artist LeRoy Neiman:
Round one: It’s apparent right off the bat this is an Interesting styles match up between the hard-hitting but patient turtle Abraham and the jabbing cautious Taylor. Abraham is mostly blocking Taylor’s jabs and rights but shows he has some bombs of his own.
Round two: Low blow by Taylor but Abraham is opening up more with his attacks. Both land some shots, no one in control yet.
Round three: “If this guy gets loosened up, he can make a fight of it,” says Neiman of Abraham. “Very good camera work in this fight.” ARD of Germany is doing the production and they do get close up shots of both fighters, especially Abraham behind his high, almost peekaboo guard.
Round four: Hard to judge as Taylor is jabbing and throwing occasional bombs while Abraham is patiently waiting the time to begin to press. Hard to judge this so far, it’s close. No one is asserting just yet.
Round five: Abraham starting to really loosen up now, fight with hands down at one point. He is sneaky.
Round six: Taylor loses a point for another low blow. He is beginning to feel the pressure of what is coming. “Abraham is playing around with Jermain Taylor now,” says Steve Albert on Showtime.
Round seven: Now we can see there is much more velocity and bad intentions on the punches of Abraham. Taylor’s right eye is swelling. He is not showing the burning desire to win, like King Arthur is. There is concern in the Taylor corner after as they warn him about the right. “I see it, I see it every time,” says Taylor. But he looks and sounds like a man on his way to defeat.
Round eight: It looks like it’s over, Abraham owns this fight.
Round nine: Big right by Abraham stuns Taylor badly. He did not see that one. Excellent recovery by Taylor. Abraham wears a big smile at the bell. He taps the glove of Taylor. Abraham knows he has this fight.
Round ten: “He doesn’t do anything,” says Neiman of Taylor. He shows flashes of his arsenal but not enough. On the other hand, Abraham is always looking to pounce, to destroy. Always looking and calculating. Taylor just throws punches, he is not really a thinking, adapting fighter.
Round eleven: Abraham continues to dominate. He is a great fighter, very smart, very strong, very ambitious, totally confident and fearless. Abraham raises his right fist at the bell, he knows it’s over. Taylor has run out of ideas. Taylor is very good but predictable.
Round twelve: Taylor begins jabbing and poking big rights and Abraham covers, just like the first round. But then Abraham explodes, still trying to score the KO, even though he has the fight in the bag. He gets it. Wow! A big right down the middle between the gloves of the American, after a decoy left hook, puts Taylor out. A devastating punch produces the spectacular win. Ringsiders Valuev and Kessler give Abraham a standing ovation. “He’s not even marked,” remarked Neiman. “He fought a smart fight too.”
Abraham says after: “It was a great fight, a great knockout. Jermain Taylor is a very good fighter. Maybe I’m better. All the time I tried to go for the knockout but I knew I was ahead on points.” He said Taylor punch power was “not so hard, normal.” Next up for King Arthur will be Dirrell. “I hope I will go to America and I will take America. That is my next plan.”
Taylor was all class in defeat. “I don’t know (what round the end came), I was just fighting. I don’t even remember. He just caught me. He’s a very strong fighter. I give it to him. It’s a hard sport.” Taylor was later taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a severe concussion.
Neiman’s final comment on Abraham vs. Taylor: “It was on old style fight. The guy who was supposed to be dumb was smarter than the other guy.”
Author of “Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson-Lewis Championship Battle” was called “A smashing success, one of the two best boxing books I ever read,” by Emanuel Steward
