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| More Super Six coverage from Showtime boxing |
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Showtime Championship Boxing Recap Part 2 October 17, 2009 Trent FM Arena-Nottingham, England This is part 2 of a 2 part recap covering the first 2 matches of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic to crown an undisputed champion at 168 pounds. This part will cover the live match between Andre Dirrell and Carl Froch. The first part covered Arthur Abraham knocking out Jermain Taylor, which aired on tape delay to open this broadcast. The final scorecards of that match are now available and Arthur was leading on all of the official judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage: 107-103, 106-102, 105-103. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/10/18/showtime-championship-boxing-recap-part-1.html All recaps featuring Super Six matches will begin with a recap of the tournament rules and standings. They will all end with an updated look at the tournament standing. The rules for this 6-person modified round robin tournament are more complicated and well thought out then some governments (Articles of Confederation?). Also, due to various reasons not all of the details of the tournament are known. Here is a sample of what is known. This is not a single elimination tournament. Instead, every boxer in the tournament is guaranteed 3 matches with advancement being determined on a points system, similar to the way tournaments are run in Japanese pro-wrestling. Like in Japanese pro-wrestling, the person who wins the match gets 2 points. Just like in Japanese pro-wrestling if there is a draw, both boxers get 1 point. There are no points awarded for a loss. In the case of a boxer earning a stoppage victory, they get 3 points. The 4 boxers with the most points advance after the preliminary stage advance to the semi-finals. They will then be seeded in the semi-final's based on how they finished in the preliminary stage. There are no ties or box-offs in this tournament. In case 2 boxers finish with the same number of points going into the semi-finals, just like in Japanese pro-wrestling, the first tie-breaker is how they did head-to-head. The second tie-breaker is number of knockout victories. For example, a boxer with 4 points via a knockout win and a draw would advance over a boxer with 2 decision victories. This shows how much more important knockout victories are compared to regular victories. The third tie-breaker, is total judges' points in favor of each boxer. That means no boxer in this tournament's corner will be able to throw in the towel very easily. Lasting 1 more round before being stopped could be 27 more points in a boxer's favor. That could be huge. It also means boxers cannot feel comfortable taking rounds off in a match they are going to win. Boxers are going to need to work to win every round if they are looking to advance on this tie-breaker. If there is still a tie at that point, advancement will be decided by coin toss. All matches in this tournament will be contested in a 20' x 20' ring. That should be to the advantage of boxers that like to move and counter-punch. Also, all matches in this tournament will be contested under the unified rules of boxing. That could be an issue in regards to the WBC title which is at play in this tournament. However, that is a very complicated and unclear scenario regarding the WBC's ridiculous rule for taking points on accidental clashes of heads that cause cuts. It will not be explained unless necessary. This is not an advantage or disadvantage for anyone in the tournament, unless the WBC belt becomes a problem. This would go under things not known about the tournament. If the WBC rules stand in matches involving their title, it would be an advantage to not be in a match for that belt. Finally, no competitor can make a mandatory title defense during the tournament. Respecting this decision the WBC has decided that they will not require any mandatory defenses of the belt currently wrapped around Froch's waist during the tournament. (That is also probably the best financial decision for the WBC when it comes to collecting sanctioning fees.) The WBA belt currently wrapped around Mikkel Kessler's waist will probably be stripped from whoever holds it by the time this tournament has ended. However, the winner of this tournament should pick up The Ring Championship to replace it and there has been a very fancy large silver trophy crafted in Europe to be presented to the winner. Here are the standings after the first match with all of the tie-breakers: 1. Arthur Abraham 3 points 1 KO 318 official judges' points in favor 2. Jermain Taylor 0 points 0 KO 308 official judges' points in favor 3. Froch, Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward have all have zeroes in every category, because they are yet to compete. Showtime is jumping around in time during this broadcast and before the live match begins they are going to go back in time to air the post-match interviews with Arthur Abraham and Jermain Taylor. To put this in context read the recap of this portion of the broadcast linked to at the top of this article. Abraham did his post-match interview in the ring with Steve Farhood, who did color commentary of the match for Showtime. The European said he thought he was ahead on points entering the last round, but was always going for the knockout. Abraham said he was not thinking about the extra point he would receive by knocking out Taylor, though. Distressingly, Abraham said that Taylor does not hit very hard. The European is very honest. Abraham saying Taylor's power is gone is even more reason Taylor should stop boxing. The European says he has not begun preparing for his next opponent in the tournament (Dirrell). A severely concussed Taylor gave a post-match interview outside his locker room. (As a disclaimer, Taylor was so concussed at this point he was suffering short term memory loss. The head trauma Taylor sustained in the ring was so severe that he was in a Berlin hospital for 2 nights and is not allowed to fly for a week. Nothing in this interview should be taken very seriously in light of that. It is only being recapped for thoroughness.) Farhood asked Taylor how he was. The boxer replied that he was "a little hurt." At this point in the interview, someone off camera passed Taylor a pair of sunglasses to put on to hide all the swelling around both of the boxer's eyes. Taylor was asked what his thoughts were entering round 12. The boxer responded that he did not remember. Farhood asked Taylor about the punch that knocked him out. Taylor tried to answer the question without revealing he did not remember what happened. At that point, Farhood figured out how badly concussed Taylor was and stopped asking the boxer about the match. Instead, Farhood asked Taylor about whether the boxer viewed a knockout loss differently then a decision loss. Taylor said every loss is the same. However, it is doubtful Taylor will think this loss was the same as a decision loss when he sees the tape. This should be the end for Taylor. Super Six World Boxing Classic: The Super Middleweights Group Stage 1 and WBC Super Middleweight (168 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match: Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KO's, 167.5 pounds) (c) vs. Andre Dirrell (18-0, 13 KO's, 167.5 pounds) Froch won this title when it was vacant via 12-round unanimous decision over Jean Pascal on December 6, 2008 at the same building that is hosting this match. The previous titleholder was Joe Calzaghe, who vacated the belt to be the champion at 175 pounds, rather then take the mandatory defense against Froch. Froch is making the second defense of his title in this match. The champion had a strong amateur boxing career that culminated when he took home the bronze medal for England in the 165-pound division at the 2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships. Froch's last match featured probably the most exciting finish of 2009 as he scored a come from behind technical knockout victory over Jermain Taylor to retain his title at 2:46 of round 12 on April 25, 2009 at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Froch became only the eleventh boxer on record to come from behind to score a knockout in the final round of a championship match. Taylor probably swept the first 5 rounds on the official judges' scorecards. This was highlighted by a round 3 where with 42 seconds to go in the round Froch was sent to the canvas with a right hand. It was the first time Froch had been knocked down in his amateur or professional boxing career. When Froch got up and was allowed to continue with 30 seconds to go in the round, it looked like Taylor could finish the Englishman. However, Taylor did not go for the finish, worrying about punching himself out. Taylor was right to worry about his conditioning. In round 6, Froch started to comeback behind his superior conditioning. In round 10, Taylor was exhausted and Froch had his best round of the match winning it easily. In round 11, Taylor's nose was bloodied and the American was constantly forced to hold to catch his breath. Froch took round 11 by out-working the American, but it seemed to be a case of too little, too late. After round 11, the official judges' scorecards had Taylor ahead: 106-102, 106-102, 102-106. Froch did not know the official scoring, but knew his title was in serious jeopardy entering the final round. Therefore, he came out pouring on the offense, and had Taylor badly hurt roughly 45 seconds into round 12. Finally, a right hand sent Taylor to the mat with 44 seconds to go in round 12. Taylor landed with his head resting against the turnbuckle pad and it appeared he was going to be counted out through sheer exhaustion. Somehow, Taylor barely managed to stand at the referee's count of 9. Under normal circumstances, a referee may have stopped the unsteady Taylor, even with only a little over 30 seconds to go in a match. The last round of a potentially close title match are not normal circumstances, and the referee rightly allowed Taylor to continue with 29 seconds to go in the round. Even losing round 12, 10-8, Taylor had piled up a big enough lead on the scorecards to take Froch's title. Froch did not know this, though and thought the knockdown had secured him the victory. Still, the Englishman went for the finish. Froch trapped Taylor in a corner and began unleashing combinations forcing the referee to step in and stop the contest with 14 seconds to go in the match. The crowd that at points in the match had been chanting "USA" in support of Taylor, began to scream themselves hoarse as Froch delivered the spectacular finish to save his title. Froch looked more relieved in victory, knowing how close he had come to losing his title, than excited to have won. A full recap of that memorable match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/10/7/recap-of-carl-froch-vs-jermain-taylor.html There was a lot of bad feelings towards Froch heading into the match with Taylor. Froch talks a ton of trash and is relatively unproven. The Englishman accused the all-time great Calzaghe of ducking him. (Not even close to true, as has been addressed in many previous recaps.) Froch said he was coming to face Taylor in the United States to prove himself to the United States fans. In reality, all of the networks in Britain that air boxing passed on the opportunity to televise this match. The only way Froch could get his first title defense televised anywhere was to come to the United States to face Taylor. (A last minute deal ended up with the match being televised on tape delay back in Froch's native land.) HBO also passed on the opportunity to air this match, allowing Showtime to pick it up for less money. Then when it came to ticket sales, this drew a small crowd of 3,726 at a casino within driving distance of New York City, New York and Boston, Massachusetts. Froch is really just a draw in his hometown of Nottingham, where he has been heavily protected, and no where else. Now that Taylor was beaten much worse by Abraham, Froch still has a lot to prove. Froch is The Ring magazine's number 3 contender to their vacant championship at 168 pounds. Dirrell had a stellar amateur boxing career that climaxed when he took home the bronze medal for the United States in the 165-pound division at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympiad. That was Dirrell's last time boxing outside of the United States. The Flint, Michigan resident was the most controversial inclusion in the tournament. Dirrell is the only boxer in the tournament not ranked by The Ring and has only been in one scheduled 12-round match in his entire professional career. That was the last match Dirrell had on high profile television in the United States. On November 1, 2008, Dirrell defeated Victor Oganov via technical knockout at 28 seconds of round 6 to capture a fringe 168-pound title. The match was purely designed to showcase Dirrell against a badly over-matched opponent. Dirrell has a history of being a wretched boxer to watch. HBO had planned to make Dirrell one of their featured prospects, but his performance was horrible in winning a blowout decision over Curtis Stevens on June 16, 2007 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut they dropped him. Dirrell did not make HBO's decision look that bad against Oganov. The American started fast dominating the first 2 rounds with his tremendous speed and defensive prowess. It was the Dirrell boxing fans had been waiting to see since the Olympics. In the last 10 seconds of round 3, a left uppercut opened up a deep cut above Oganov' right eye. The cut would bleed directly into Oganov' eye for the remainder of the match. This was a great performance by Dirrell, until he started to run out of gas in round 5. With 49 seconds to go in round 5, Dirrell was leaning on Oganov to rest. Oganov then stepped to the side as Dirrell was leaning on him. That caused the American to fall to the canvas. Then came the stoppage 28 seconds into round 6 and it brought on a chorus of boos from the crowd. Oganov was not hurt at the time of the stoppage, but the referee decided to stop the match based on an accumulation of damage. It was a solid win for Dirrell, but it showed he needed to get practice going more rounds in live competition. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/10/8/recap-of-andre-dirrell-vs-victor-oganov.html The American has had only 1 match since knocking out Oganov, and it did not help him get practice going into the later rounds of a match. Dirrell defeated Derrick Findley at 3:00 of round 6 on March 28, 2009 at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. The match ended up being stopped in the corner after Findley had taken too much punishment. The thing is, that was not an elite tune-up for the type of competition Dirrell will face in this tournament, nor did it help test his conditioning. There are additional questions about Dirrell's conditioning entering this match, because he only flew from Big Bear, California, where he was training, to Nottingham 6 days before this match. The time change should not be much of an issue. Actually, this match is taking place a little after 6 PM California time, so being on California time could be a good thing for Dirrell. (The time may be more of a factor for Froch and the fans in attendance, because the match is going to start a little after 2 AM local time. So this match is actually happening on October 18, but will go into the record books as taking place on October 17 for some reason.) The issue with Dirrell coming to England only 6 days before the match is that the lack of recovery time from a long trans-Atlantic flight could hurt Dirrell's conditioning. Dirrell is unranked by The Ring, but ranked by boxrec.com as the number 7 boxer in the world at 168 pounds. At 27-years old, Dirrell is 5 years younger then the 32-year-old Froch. Both boxers stand 6' 1" tall. Froch has the reach advantage with a 75" wingspan, compared to Dirrell's 74" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, Froch has a larger frame then Dirrell and should be slightly heavier in the ring. Froch will box out of the orthodox stance. Dirrell will employ the southpaw stance, but switches stances frequently. USA Today's Danny Sheridan lists the odds of Froch winning this tournament as 2-to-1 and Dirrell winning this tournament as 5-to-2. Sheridan lists this as the closest first round match listing Froch as a small 3-to-2 favorite. As noted earlier, all matches in this tournament will be contested under the unified rules of boxing. The judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Italy, Mexico and Belgium. The referee is Hector Afu. Dirrell is using the exact opposite strategy Taylor used going to the ring earlier in the night. This American is working to play the part of ultimate heel to this hostile crowd. Dirrell is coming out to what sounds like "Living in America" carrying small United States flags in both hands and in military style dress. The strange thing is that the rank on Dirrell's uniform is Sergeant. When making up a fake rank to put on a ring jacket, boxers normally would put a much higher rank on their attire. There are 4 stars above the rank where Dirrell is listed as a Sergeant. It is like he thought of making himself a 4-star General, then changed his mind. At that point he had the jacket altered to put the Sergeant and appropriate 3 bars added below the stars. This is not a good entrance. As Dirrell enters, Gus Johnson, who is doing play-by-play of this match for Showtime, compares the young boxer to an young Neo from the Matrix who is starting to believe he is the one. Johnson says tonight, "We will find out if he can truly be the one." Dirrell's nickname is "The Matrix" due to his amazing speed, but that is just bad. Froch enters to his normal tune of Queen's "We Will Rock You", with a new twist as it transitions to Guns N' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" when the boxer finally appears before the raucous crowd. This is a very understated entrance for the Englishman. The last time Froch boxed on television in the United States out of Nottingham, he had a spectacular entrance with a live band and a fog machine for special effects. Of course, he followed that by an underwhelming performance in the ring. A full recap of that outstanding entrance and lackluster match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/4/22/recap-of-carl-froch-vs-albert-rybacki.html Johnson is in rare form as he compares Froch to Robin Hood as the boxer walks to the ring. That is because they are both from Nottingham. Dirrell comes out to start the match in the orthodox stance. Apparently, Dirrell plans to box the majority of this match out of the orthodox stance. That may be a bad plan, because in the past he has shown himself to be a superior boxer out of his natural southpaw stance. With 40 seconds to go in round 1, Dirrell switches to the southpaw stance. Dirrell uses his faster hands to win a close round 1, 10-9. The story of this match is the same as the story in Abraham-Taylor with a key difference. The expectation is that Dirrell will win the majority of the opening rounds. Dirrell usually starts fast and Froch usually starts slow. Froch should get his rhythm at some point and win the majority of the later rounds. The thing is this match is expected to go to a decision. That makes the key thing when Froch starts to take control of the match. If the Englishman has lost too many rounds at that point, he is unlikely to score the come from behind knockout he managed against Taylor. Froch believes he will take control in round 5 or 6. That means he only needs to take 1 or 2 of the opening 5 rounds to win an easy decision. With 2:00 to go in round 2, the crowd begins to boo this match. That is a little premature. Froch planned to work at a more deliberate pace in this match to not rush into a Dirrell counter punch. At this point, this is a slow tactical match and not a terrible match. Dirrell landed a few counter punches to take round 2, 10-9. He has started to switch stances frequently at this point. Dirrell is changing stances so frequently that it is not reasonable to recap all of his switches going forward. The crowd was starting to get very angry at the lack of action by the end of round. Still, it is a little early for the booing. Froch is at least trying to make this match interesting. Dirrell is throwing more feints then punches. However, when the American does punch, he connects. With 2:50 to go in round 3, there is a clinch and the referee orders the boxers to break. Froch throws a punch about 2 seconds after that as the boxers are still separating to earn a stern warning from the referee. Dirrell came out more aggressive and won a close round 3, 10-9. There were several times in the round where Froch came charging at Dirrell, and Dirrell ran to the side to evade the oncoming champion. This popped the crowd, but no punches landed in these exchanges. The crowd actually stood and cheered after round 3, which featured some dreadful action at times. Had this match been in a neutral location, this would be the point that a crowd would be justified to turn on it. With a little over 1:30 to go in round 4, there is blood coming out of Dirrell's nose. With around 1:10 to go in round 4, there may be some blood coming from Dirrell's upper lip. That is a testament to Froch's power, because Dirrell has dominated the round, so far. Round 4 is Dirrell's best of the match, and he wins it easily, 10-9, and after 4 rounds Dirrell leads on my scorecard, 40-36. With 1:40 to go in round 5, Dirrell lands a right-left combination and tries to tie-up Froch. Froch did not like that idea. The champion immediately put the challenger on the canvas with a Greco-Roman belly-to-belly throw out of the over-under grip Dirrell provided him. That was so beautifully executed as Froch put Dirrell right on his back, that it should be worth 2 points in this match. Normally when someone throws their opponent down in boxing, their is a struggle. Froch took Dirrell down so fast the American had no idea what happened. The look of shock Dirrell had when he hit the canvas was outstanding. Dirrell looked like a kid on the first day of wrestling practice, who gets taken down and has no idea what happened. (Saw something similar happen to a guy currently in UFC. It is still entertaining more then a decade later.) The crowd also popped huge for this. The referee correctly called it a slip. Johnson asked rhetorically if this is MMA. Al Bernstein, who is one of Showtime's color commentator's for this match, understanding promotion used the opportunity to mention Fedor Emelianenko is in action soon. The referee issued Froch another stern warning, and ordered the action to continue with 1:25 to go in round 5. The boxers clinch again with still 24 seconds to go in round 5. The referee ordered a break, but was slow to move in to separate the boxers. Therefore out of frustration, Froch punched Dirrell in the kidneys with 21 seconds to go in round 5. The referee gives Froch another stern warning. Dirrell has been on the move the entire match, and Froch is losing his composure. The champion is not going to lose a point here, but Froch is nearing the amount of fouls he will be allowed before he is deducted a point. The crowd boos the referee for some reason, when the action is resumed with 17 seconds to go in the round. Dirrell uses his speed to win round 5, 10-9. This is the point in the match that Froch expected Dirrell to get tired, but the American still appears fresh. With 2:34 to go in round 6, Froch lands a left backfist to the back of Dirrell's head and follows through on the blows pushing Dirrell onto the canvas. Froch missed wildly with a combination, then in an attempt to land something threw the backfist. The referee is ruling it a slip as Dirrell urges the referee to take a point from Froch. The referee is not going to take a point, but that really deserved a point deduction. It was not a hard backfist, but that is such a bad foul it could warrant a point deduction had Froch not committed the several other fouls earlier in the match. The referee is going to allow the action to continue with 2:26 to go in round 6. With 1:30 to go in round 6, the boxers clinch again and exchange punches after being ordered to break. This is degenerating into a brawl as the referee appears to have completely lost control of this match. Dirrell may be tiring, because he has begun to do a lot of holding. The referee may be able to take some control of this match back by issuing Dirrell a strong warning for excessive holding. With 13 seconds to go still in round 6, Dirrell goes wildly charging in and puts himself on a knee. The referee correctly rules it a slip and the action is resumed with 7 seconds to go in the round. Dirrell may have won a very difficult to score round 6 by landing the cleaner punches on the outside, and leads on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 60-54. After 6 rounds, Bernstein has Dirrell ahead on his scorecard, 58-56. With 2:48 to go in round 7, there is another clinch and the referee finally warns Dirrell for holding. With 1:27 to go in round 7, there is another clinch and the referee is going to issue Dirrell a stern warning for holding. That is really odd. Dirrell has held numerous other times in the last 1:21 and it would have been appropriate to warn him those times. However, on this clinch Froch appeared to be going for another suplex and hit Dirrell 4 times squarely in the back of the head. Yet, the referee is calling timeout to warn Dirrell and not Froch. Froch landed enough clean power punches on the inside to win a foul filled round 7, 10-9. The crowd again stood and applauded after what was in reality an ugly round 7. With 2:00 to go in round 8, the crowd is again booing. The boxers have not brawled in the first minute, which is disappointing them. With 1:40 to go in round 8, Dirrell throws a wide left hook and goes to a knee. The challengers conditioning is failing him again, as the champion predicted. The referee correctly rules it a slip, and the action is resumed with 1:34 to go in the round. Froch may have had Dirrell hurt in the last 35 seconds of round 8. Froch landed a left hook with 33 seconds to go in round 8 and Dirrell was not badly hurt, but he spent the rest of the round appearing to hold on to recover. It is hard to tell if Dirrell was hurt, because Dirrell is doing a lot of holding anyway at this point. Regardless, that earns Froch round 8, 10-9. With around 2:00 to go in round 9, there is some swelling under Dirrell's right eye. It should not be a factor in this match. With 37 seconds to go in round 9, the referee calls timeout to give Froch a warning for hitting behind the head. Froch should have been deducted a point for hitting behind the head at least 3 rounds ago. However, the time of this warning was not great. Dirrell was bending down, almost in a full bow. That did not present Froch with much of a legal target, in part creating the foul. Froch has done far worse in the last 3 rounds to deserve a warning several times. Round 9 is the best action round of the match and Froch lands the harder punches to win it, 10-9. After 9 rounds, Dirrell leads on my scorecard, 87-84. After 9 rounds, Bernstein has Dirrell ahead 86-85. After round 9, Dirrell looks discouraged in his corner. The young boxer keeps getting himself in trouble by complaining to the referee during the action. Dirrell's corner had to remind him earlier in the match to remember to defend himself at all times. Now, they are telling him to keep his concentration. These are not instructions a boxer should be needing to receive in the waning rounds of a championship match. Conversely, in Froch's corner they are talking about what combinations to throw and the need for the champion to put those combinations together. With 1:11 to go in round 10, the referee is calling timeout and is going to take a point from Dirrell for excessive holding. That is a bad decision. The referee should have taken a point from Dirrell for holding a few rounds ago, not now. On replay, it appears Froch may have even helped initiate the clinch that drew the point deduction by wrapping his left arm around Dirrell's body. There have been fewer clinches in the last few rounds, because Dirrell is not holding as much. The referee's earlier warnings got the desired result. Also, taking a point in the latter rounds of a championship match and in a tournament that uses cumulative points as a tie-breaker should not be done lightly. The referee needed to do it to get control early in the match, but now that the match has settled down there is no reason to take points. Unless, the referee is planning to take a point from Froch in the next few minutes to make things even and prove some point. After about a 10 second break the action is resumed. Dirrell hurt Froch with a left hook in the last 10 seconds of round 10, which should have won him the round. However, due to the point deduction round 10 is even, 9-9. After round 10, Froch's trainer gave the champion the same instructions he did in the corner after Froch got knocked down for the first time by Taylor. Froch was told to stop rushing in with his hands down. In fact, the trainer said, "I keep telling you don't rush in." This is the first round 11 of Dirrell's career. In fact, Dirrell has only gone past 8 rounds 1 time. That was the time he defeated Curtis Stevens in such a wretched match he got kicked off HBO. (A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/8/5/preview-of-andre-dirrell-vs-mike-paschall.html) Dirrell lands a plethora of power punches to win round 11, 10-9. In the corner before round 12, Dirrell's corner told him he needed a knockout, because he would not win a close decision in Froch's hometown. Dirrell appears to win round 12 behind a solid first 2 minutes of work, 10-9. Dirrell takes the match on my scorecard, 116-111. The look on Froch's face after the final bell suggests that he is not extremely confident giving this match to the judges. However, the microphones picked up Froch telling someone in the ring that he will win on the cards. That does show how close this match is that someone would ask the champion if he thinks he won. The crowd gives the match a standing ovation after the final bell, but it is a relatively quiet standing ovation. A lot of them think Froch lost. Of course, Dirrell does not look especially confident as the match goes to the scorecards, either. There were 3 British members of the press keeping unofficial of the match from ringside and they have Froch winning via majority decision: 115-113, 115-114, 114-114. (In an interesting cultural difference, all of the British members of the press scoring the match for Showtime had at least 1 round scored, 10-10. People in the United States have been conditioned to not score rounds, 10-10.) The official decision courtesy of the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that the official judges have scored this match: 114-113 (Dirrell), 115-112 (Froch), 115-112 for the winner by split decision, still undefeated and still the WBC Super Middleweight Champion of the World, Carl "The Cobra" Froch. The point deduction ended up playing no part in the decision of this match. The tie-breaker is a different issue. The win moves Froch to 26-0 with 20 wins coming by way of knockout. Dirrell said in his post-match interview that he has no idea why the point was deducted. The vanquished challenger said he was leaning on Froch at the time and does not recall receiving a warning for leaning on Froch. In reality, Dirrell had been warned many times for holding and deserved to lose a point for it. He just did not deserve to lose a point for it the time he actually did get penalized for it. Dirrell said he thought he would have a legitimate chance to win a decision in Nottingham. (For historical perspective, Timothy Bradley took Junior Witter's title via split decision in Nottingham in on May 10, 2008. That show was headlined by the Froch-Rybacki match linked to above. Of course, Witter is not from Nottingham and it is baffling how that was not an unanimous decision. It also made Bradley only the fifth American born boxer in history to win a world title in England.) Dirrell said this match proved he can go 12 rounds. The American said he grew up a lot in this match. Dirrell did not cut a promo on his next opponent (Abraham). In his post-match interview, Froch said he felt he won the match from round 1 to round 12. Froch credited Dirrell for having a lot of speed. The champion then complained about Dirrell's refusal to stand and trade punches and the American's constant complaining to the referee. Froch said that was the reason for the ugly match. However, as a positive that style of match resulted in him taking very little damage. Froch said he did not feel it was a hometown decision. The Englishman also said it was a dissatisfying match, because he knows that was a wretched match to watch. Froch admitted he could have fairly been deducted a point. The champion correctly thought both boxers in this match could have been fairly docked a point. Froch says he is looking forward to facing Mikkel Kessler in the next round. On paper that is the best match of the tournament. Froch won this match by being more aggressive. A lot of the early rounds were close, with Dirrell appearing to land a few more punches. The difference there was Froch coming forward and being active. Froch lost the first 2 minutes of round 12, badly. However, he worked hard in the last minute to probably steal the round on some of the official judges' scorecards. That is the way judges are going to score matches many times. Froch may have got the aid of the crowd, but this was not a terrible decision worth getting outraged about. This was such an ugly match and Dirrell is such an unique opponent that it is hard to really assess Froch's performance. His conditioning appeared to be a little worse then it was against Taylor, which was a little surprising. It was still excellent. Froch was slower then Dirrell, which was expected. The Englishman's defense is still suspect. That is nothing new. He started slowly, again. This was just a standard Froch match. They all look relatively the same. As noted earlier, Froch is scheduled to take on Kessler next. That match will be March, probably in Denmark. If Kessler wins his Group 1 match, the Froch-Kessler match could be to unify the WBA and WBC 168-pound titles, but more importantly it will establish a new Ring Champion in the weight class. Dirrell was very good in this match, but still does too much running to win close decisions. The Showtime announcers made this decision sound a lot worse then it really was. Johnson really had a bad night. Froch clearly won round 9 and Johnson said he thought it was a big round for Dirrell. That caused Bernstein to ask "Really?" Against an aggressive boxer who tries, but misses with a lot of punches, Dirrell is going to lose rounds based on inactivity. His holding in this match was excessive and referees and judges will penalize him for it in the future. Close rounds go to the boxer that initiates the action, not the one making it ugly. The American made things worse on himself by complaining during the round to the referee, which allowed Froch to land punches freely at times. Dirrell only started holding in the middle rounds, when he appeared to get tired. The boxer said his conditioning held up in this match, but it did not look that way. Dirrell's next match is against Abraham in January in the United States. On paper, that is the worst match of the tournament. That is not because it will not be competitive. The thing is the 2 counter-punchers could meet in the ring to have an encounter that is more of a staring contest then a boxing match. Here are the standings after the first 2 matches with all of the tie-breakers: 1. Arthur Abraham 3 points 1 KO 318 official judges' points in favor 2. Carl Froch 2 points 0 KO 343 official judges' points in favor 3. Andre Dirrell 0 points 0 KO 338 official judges' points in favor 4. Jermain Taylor 0 points 0 KO 308 official judges' points in favor 5. Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward have all zeroes in every category, because they are yet to compete. They meet November 17 in Ward's hometown of Oakland, California. To finish off the numbers, USA Today's Danny Sheridan has Kessler as the co-favorite with Abraham to win this tournament at 1-to-1. The odds on Ward winning this tournament are 5-to-2. Kessler is a 3-to-1 favorite in the match on November 17 against Ward. As for this match, it is something to avoid. When one of the boxers in the match says it is terrible, that says something. As for the criticism of Johnson in this recap, the commentator just had a really bad night. It happens to everyone. Frank Mir is an outstanding broadcaster and admitted being awful calling the Miguel Torres-Takeya Mizugaki match a few months ago. (I re-watched the Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather, Jr. match several months later and re-scored the match to realize I did a bad job that night.) News and Notes: As a follow up to yesterday's recap, Abraham is now The Ring's number 6 contender at 168 pounds following his knockout victory over Taylor. Taylor has dropped completely out of The Ring rankings following the loss. The American was released from the hospital Monday after being held there for 2 nights to monitor his condition and run a battery of tests on him, following the severe concussion he received Saturday night. (There is a lot on that in the last recap, which there is a link to at the top of this article.) Should Taylor need to withdraw from the tournament, Allan Green is expected to replace him and by rule will assume the point total of the lowest competitor in the tournament. After round 1 finishes, that should be Taylor. It has been officially announced that Dr. Vitali Klitschko will defend his heavyweight title against Kevin Johnson on December 12 at the PostFinance-Arena in Bern, Switzerland. It will be the first heavyweight title match ever held in Switzerland. The Nikolai Valuev vs. Ruslan Chagaev rematch for a heavyweight title was scheduled to take place in Switzerland in May, but was canceled when Chagaev tested positive for Hepatitis B. There has been no television coverage of the match in the United States announced. However, it would be very surprising if the match did not air on HBO. Klitschko's last match, a technical knockout victory over Chris Arreola on September 26 drew the biggest boxing rating for the network in 2009. It did a phenomenal 4.8 rating and 2.1 million viewers live, with numerous replays adding many more viewers. It has been announced that the David Haye-Valuev title match on November 7 in Nuremberg, Germany will be available on television in the United States. People can see it live via Integrated Sports PPV for $24.95. The hype is picking up for the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto PPV on November 14 and it is a mixed bag at this point. First, the final televised undercard match on the show has been announced. It will be Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. vs. Troy Rowland in a 160-pound match. The other undercard matches will be a 147-pound match between Alfonso Gomez and Jesus Soto Karass and Yuri Foreman challenging for Daniel Santos' 154-pound title. On paper, the Foreman-Santos match could be a candidate for worst match of the year. This is a very poor undercard, considering Top Rank Promotions, who is running the PPV, promised a stellar undercard for a show going against Randy Couture on free television. Top Rank had wanted to headline the undercard with Edwin Valero defending his 135-pound title against Humberto Soto. Valero had bleeding on the brain from a non-boxing related injury, and had previously been banned from competing in every state with a commission, except Texas. Top Rank helped lobby to get the regulations changed in Nevada, specifically so they could showcase Valero and the new regulations just went into effect in September. Unfortunately, Valero, a citizen of Mexico, got a DUI and domestic violence charges filed against him while training in Nevada over the summer and lost his visa. Valero also passed on a 6-figure payday to face an opponent of his choosing on a Top Rank PPV in July. To say decision making is not Valero's strong suit would be an understatement. The good part of the hype for the PPV starts on October 24 when the first episode of 24/7 Pacquiao/Cotto airs. However, the babyface/babyface dynamic that this match features usually results in a disappointing 24/7 series. Speaking of Top Rank Promotions PPV's, Top Rank ran a minor PPV on October 10 from the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. (Yes, the venue is still names after a company that no longer exists.) The event was designed to showcase 126-pound beltholder Yuriorkis Gamboa and 122-pound titlist Juan Manuel Lopez to build towards a meeting between the 2 in June. Gamboa did his part knocking out Whyber Garcia 58 seconds into round 4. However, the crowd of 3,152 largely came to see Lopez and he barely won a 12-round unanimous decision against Rogers Mtgawa in the main event. Gamboa and Lopez are now tentatively scheduled to co-main event an HBO event from Puerto Rico on January 23 in separate matches, to further build interest for their eventual match. Gamboa is looking to face Bernabe Concepcion on the January 23 show. On January 23, Lopez could face Celestino Caballero, which is a lot more interesting match then Lopez vs. Gamboa. The winner of Lopez-Caballero could fill The Ring's vacant championship at 122 pounds and would be ranked on their top 10 pound-for-pound list. The last Ring Champion at 122 pounds, Israel Vazquez, returned to action on October 10 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California. Vazquez had been out of action for over 19 months following his brutal thrilogy with Rafael Marquez. Following the first match in the series, Vazquez was told by doctors to retire and Freddie Roach refused to train Vazquez anymore feeling it was unsafe for the boxer to continue in the sport. Roach said Vazquez was beginning to slur his speech at times. After the third match in this series that left both competitors permanently weakened, Vazquez required 3 surgeries to repair a torn retina in his right eye. Vazquez moved up in weight to 126 pounds for his return and did not look impressive. Vazquez was cut badly in the early rounds. That may not have been much of an issue for the Vazquez of a few years ago, but that Vazquez appears to be gone. Eventually, Vazquez knocked out Angel Priolo in round 9. Priolo was coming into the match having lost his last 6 matches, 5 by knockout. All of those were contested at a weight limit below 126 pounds, and none of those were against boxers ranked on any pound-for-pound best lists. After 8 rounds, the official judges had the match a majority draw: 76-76, 76-76, 78-74 (Vazquez). Vazquez says he was just rusty. The thing is there is a difference between rusty and wrecked. Sadly, Vazquez is probably the latter at this point. Vazquez and Marquez inflicted such terrible damage on each other in those 3 matches, that they will never be the same. (To understand the true brutality of this rivalry it is important to remember that Vazquez won this series, 2-1, by winning the last 2 matches, and he appears to be a shell of his old self 19 months later.) Following the victory over Priolo, The Ring dropped Vazquez down 4 spots to be their number 9 ranked boxer in the world, pound-for-pound. Since Vazquez dropped in the rankings, Marquez had to drop in the rankings to be below Vazquez. Marquez is now The Ring's number 10 ranked boxer in the world, pound-for-pound. Vazquez now wants to face Chris John or have a fourth match with Marquez. Neither of those matches can end well. Finally in more boxing related legal news, a federal appeals court ruled against legendary heavyweight champion Joe Frazier on October 8. Frazier was suing the Oneida Indian Nation, because they used his picture to promote a boxing card without approval. In 2002, the Turning Stone Casino, which is owned by the Oneida Indian Nation, used Frazier's picture to help promote a match between Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, Frazier's daughter, and Laila Ali, Muhammad Ali's daughter. (For the record, Laili Ali won the 2002 match.) Frazier, who an HBO documentary showed seems to have gone somewhat mad after his loss to Muhammad in their third match, was suing for $7 million in compensatory damages and $9 million in punitive damages. The picture in question was a picture of Joe, Muhammad and Jacqui sitting together at a blackjack table. Joe says the picture was unauthorized and its use caused him "extreme emotional damage". Apparently, Joe's stated objection was that his image was used to promote gambling. According to the Oneida Indian Nation, they offered to settle with Frazier a long time ago. However, that amount would not have been in the millions and Frazier said no. The appellate court upheld a lower court ruling that Frazier could not sue the Oneida Indian Nation in federal court, because of their sovereign status. Frazier needs to sue the Oneida Indian Nation in their own tribal court. At this point, Frazier's advisers are telling the Hall of Famer to drop the case and move on. Unfortunately, that is historically something Frazier has had a problem doing. The next recap will be of the October 31 Showtime event featuring Yonnhy Perez challenging for Joseph Agbeko's 118-pound title. However, before that I am scheduled to release a review of SmackDown! vs. Raw 2010 for the XBOX 360. That will be a member's only feature for subscribers of f4wonline.com. That article has been in the works since well before the game went gold and we can promise some at least a couple of insights that will not be available at other websites. It is less then $10 a month to subscribe and a tremendous value. Sincerely, Jereme Warneck number1contender.net Boxing and Video Game Correspondent for f4wonline.com Hidden Valley Lake, CA I can be reached for feedback and comments at
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