Arthur Abraham vs. Carl Froch Preview & Picks

Previews

The final fight in the Super Six Group Stage takes place this Saturday when Arthur Abraham squares off with Carl Froch in Helsinki, Finland. The vacant WBC Super Middleweight title will also go to the winner. The fight can be seen on tape-dealy on Showtime starting at 9 pm ET. It will be broadcast with a live airing of Andre Ward vs. Sakio Bika in a non-Super Six contest.

Arthur Abraham vs. Carl Froch
Money Line: Abraham -175; Froch +145
WBC Super Middleweight Title

Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KOs) is coming off of his first loss as a professional, a DQ against Andre Dirrell. Abraham clocked the Michigan-native as Dirrell’s knee was down from a slip. The shot knocked Dirrell loopy, so much so that Dirrell believed he had lost the bout. Now with a villianous role, “King” Arthur is trying to take the throne at 168 pounds, just as he did as a middleweight. Abraham is a fearsome puncher with an uncanny ability to take punishment. He had his jaw broken early in a fight against Edison Miranda but managed to fight through it and win a decision against the powerful Miranda. Abraham has already advanced to the knockout stage of the Super Six but that won’t change his approach to the fight.

Like Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KOs) also suffered his first professional loss in his last fight. Froch’s loss came via unanimous decision to Mikkel Kessler. The key to this bout just may come down to which man rebounds better from his first loss. Froch is a big puncher with a solid chin. Those are two big reasons why many believe this fight could turn out to be the Fight of the Year. Froch even has a flair for the dramatic. In his last bout prior to joining the Super Six, Froch embarked on a 12th round rally to knockout Jermain Taylor with only seconds left in the bout. Froch may need to summon up all the resiliency he has to defeat Abraham and improve his standing heading into the knockout stage of the Super Six.

Staff Predictions

Corey Willinger: Figuring out how the judges are going to look at a Froch fight is always difficult. They gave him a gift against Andre Dirrell in a fight he clearly lost but seemed too ready to deny him against Mikkel Kessler in a fight that could have gone either way. Of course, the hometown fighter got the nod in both of those bouts. This time, there is no hometown fighter. And on paper, it’s unlikely this one makes it to the final bell. Froch has shown a tremendous beard thus far, but I’m a big believer in Abraham’s power. And Froch is just too easy to hit. Out-boxed by the Briton’s underrated jab early in the bout, Abraham will battle back in the late rounds, turn it into a war, and eventually score a stoppage.

Trent Pusey: It will be interesting to see how each man responds to his first loss. It also becomes interesting to select a winner given no hometown advantage. I like Froch but I dont like his chances against Abraham. It concerns me that Abraham was all too willing to let Andre Dirrell take control of their bout, but Carl Froch is not Andre Dirrell. Abraham will enduce a brawl and I like Abraham’s chin better than Froch’s. I see a lot of punishment being doled out in this fight but I would put it at Abraham by decision, 116-112.

Paul Magno: I’ve been critical of Abraham’s “fight 10 seconds of each round” mentality, but he can’t fight like that in this one. Froch will press and force Abraham to engage because he’s big enough and strong enough to cause some serious damage if Abraham just puts up the earmuffs to negate any offense. Abraham opening up also means that his power will be more of a factor, especially against Froch, who is a very vulnerable defensive fighter. Forget the baloney about Froch working on his lateral movement and speed. Even if it’s true, he’ll go back to flat-out fighting as soon as things get heated. Froch is a tough SOB, but he’s going to get caught sooner or later and I see Abraham taking this via late stoppage.