Standings after group stage 1
FIGHTER RECORD POINTS
Arthur Abraham 1-0 3
Carl Froch 1-0 2
Andre Ward 1-0 2
Jermain Taylor 0-1 0
Andre Dirrell 0-1 0
Mikkel Kessler 0-1 0
What did we learn after watching group stage one? Who is the favorite after group stage one? We have learned what we already knew that the tournament is good for boxing and fun to watch. A lot of questions have been answered and some verdicts are still out. It seems that the knock out losses, and tough wars with Bernard Hopkins have finally caught up with Jermain Taylor. I thought he could have been the dark horse in this tournament because he had something to prove after losing to inferior opponent Carl Froch. Jermain looked nothing like his former self in the Arthur Abraham fight. He looked old and as we all know you can get old in one night in this sport. Arthur Abraham can hit hard and he did what he had to do against Taylor in winning and getting the KO but I think he has many flaws. If Taylor would have been younger or even threw some punches he could have won. I see many chinks in King Arthur's armor that will be exploited by the Andre Ward and possibly the young Andre Dirrell when they fight. Like I said Taylor is old and should save himself and us from any further embarrassment and get out of the tournament, but he wont. The world saw what I already knew that Carl Froch is just a big puncher with no real skill. He looked like an amature against Andre Dirrell flailing wild punches like a mma fighter. Andre Dirrell got stuck with a horrible refferee and Carl Froch got away with a home town decision. Andre has a tough draw in the second round but if he can box for twelve rounds he can win. As bad as Kessler looked against Ward I'm still going to pick him to beat the unpolished Froch. Kessler was the biggest disappointment in stage 1, by loosing his title and looking bad doing it. He was beaten easy by an unproven young American gold medalist easy, and not really putting up a fight. Andre Ward could be the next big American boxing sensation if he can win this tournament and then beat the winner of the Bute VS Andrade. There are big names at 168 and 175 if he moves up. He has been improving each time out and I knew he would be a problem after he beat Miranda easy. He will now be the man to beat and if he can keep improving and boxing the way he did against Kessler he can win the tournament easy. Expect the standings to change in the next stage but I guess we will have to wait until January to know for sure. I will talk about group stage 2 and there match ups in the coming weeks so be ready for that.
Nick Thomas deathwish72@gmail.com
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