By Mark Vester
In a little while, super middleweights Jermain Taylor (28-3, 17KOs) and Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24KOs) will battle it out at the O2 World Arena in Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany. The fight will be televised on a "delayed basis" on Showtime later tonight. For those who are unable to watch tonight's event, the result will posted right here at the conclusion of the fight. Taylor and Abraham do battle in the first round of the Super Six tournament.
SPOILERS BELOW
In the first fight on the Super Six Tournament, Abraham knocked Taylor out cold in the final moments of the twelfth and final round. Abraham landed a monster of a shot that sent Taylor out for the count.
Taylor came out to a tune by Michael Jackson, while Abraham came to the ring with a live rock performance by the Scorpians to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
They touched gloves as they came out. Taylor worked the jab and threw a right hand behind it to start things off. Abraham kept his hands up high to guard from any big shots. Abraham broke out of his shell to throw a big three punch combo that got Taylor's attention. Taylor continued to jab but couldn't find a way to break Abraham's guard, even with body punches.
Taylor went back to the jab in the second. Abraham began to come forward as Taylor jabbed to keep him back. Taylor went back to the body and caught Abraham with a low blow. Time was called to allow Abraham a moment to recover from the punch. Abraham was using his own jab to the chest to try and work his way inside. Taylor came off with two combinations and his jab to knock Abraham back. Then King Arthur started to return fire with his own combos in the final ten seconds.
Taylor continued to use the jab in the third. Abraham went to the body and Taylor countered to the head. Taylor continued to jab as Abraham came forward. Abraham tried landing big combos near the end.
WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler and WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev were shown watching the fight from ringside.
Taylor was jabbing some more in the fourth, using that is his primary weapon to keep Abraham from coming forward. Abraham continued to target the body and tried jabbing to get inside.
In the fifth, Taylor was mixing up his punches, landing the jab and throwing punches to the head and body. Abraham was throwing a stiff jab and later threw a five punch combo. He threw a few more power shots to follow but all of them were blocked. Taylor was jabbing him to the face and at one point they stood toe to toe and exchanged some hard punches. Abraham landed some good hooks to push Taylor back.
Abraham came out swinging for the fences in the sixth. Taylor used the jab and some hooks to keep him back. The ref took a point away from Taylor for landing the second low blow of the fight. They exchanged some big punches at the end of the round.
Both fighters picked up the pace at the start of the seventh. Taylor was starting double up on the jab and trying to get off with a hard hooks. Abraham used his own jab and power punch combos to push Taylor back. It was a war of jabs in the final minute. Both fighters warned for rabbit punches during clinches. Abraham started to come on in the final seconds with some good hard combinations to steal the round.
Abraham came out jabbing first in the eight. Taylor was quick to start pumping his own. Abraham lefthis hands down while trying to bait Taylor to come in. Taylor was keeping the fight at a distance with his jab. Abraham tried to rush him with punches that missed.
Taylor came out first in the ninth. Abraham seemed to take a break in the first minute. Taylor jabbed and doubled up on the hook. Taylor was rocked by a big hook in the second minute. Abraham moved in to finish him off and Taylor was able to hold on and use his jab to get out of trouble. Taylor landed a nice inside uppercut as Abraham walked in. Abraham seemed to get tired in the final thirty seconds, while Taylor pressed with his jab. A replay showed the punch that rocked Taylor was a combination of a hook and forearm to the jaw.
Taylor seemed a bit more cautious in the tenth. Abraham was coming forward slowly, looking for a big opening to land another bomb. Abraham came forward with hard combinations, none that landed clean.
Taylor back to the jab and going to the body early in the eleventh. Abraham again took the first minute off in the round. He came out in bursts when Taylor got close. He tried to rush Taylor into the corner in the second minute of the round but couldn't keep Taylor there for long. Abraham closed the round by chasing Taylor while tyring to land big shots.
In the twelfth and final round, they came out trading jabs. Taylor went hard to the body. They traded shots when Abraham tried to press Taylor against the ropes. Abraham started to let his hands go but was cautious of Taylor's counter shots. Then out of nowhere, Abraham landed a monster hook in the final seconds to knock Taylor out cold for the full count.
Per Ake Persson, at ringside:
Yoan Pablo Hernandez won the IBF I/C cruiserweight title with a unanimous decisíon over Enad Licina over twelve. It was scored 118-110, 115-113 and 116-112. Both men can punch a bit and there were several hard exchanges in the early rounds but what decided the outcome was that Licina ran out of gas and more or less stopped fighting. Hernandez, who have a history of early knockouts or going short on stamina won the fight hands down in the later rounds.
Dominik Britsch outscored Belgian Michael Recloux over ten and retained the IBF Youth title on scores of 99-90 twice and 98-92, Recloux was down in the first, second best most of the way but was very brave.
Light heavyweight Arthur Hein won a close decison against tough Italian Roberto Cocco
after eight exciting rounds.
Heavyweight Gbenga Oloukun, who upset Lamon Brewster last time out, lost by a unanimous decision to Rene Dettweiler after eight. It was scored 77-75 twice and 78-74 of rather a drab affair with Oloukun starting very slowly.
The show kicked off a quarter before scheduled time with German cruiser Martn Kempf fighting to a eight round draw against Frenchman Parfait Amogugou after a close fight with Kempf, the better boxer, not being active enough to secure a win.
