(AP Photo/Tom Hevezi)

View full size photo »

Since I made my own case clear and there was plenty of debate, let's put it to a poll: Who did you see winning last night's fight between Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell?

I'm not trying to generalize, but it really seems like basically every UK fan had Froch winning due to aggression, and most other folks saw Dirrell winning by landing more and making Froch look slow. There are complaints about tactics on both sides. Froch was dirty, and if you argue that, you're bonkers. It was also brought on first by Dirrell simply frustrating Froch, and let's not pretend that wasn't the case. But there is also no arguing that Dirrell's incessant clinching was just the same story with different words. Both had guilt in making it a chippy fight, and both also had their reasons. Froch did it to try to get into Dirrell's head and force him into a firefight. Dirrell did it to avoid the firefight, which he was never going to get into.

Dirrell (18-1, 13 KO) and Froch (26-0, 20 KO) are going to have their biased supporters here, and honestly this is likely to go one way because Froch's fanbase is juuuuust a little bit more vocal, interested, and supportive than Dirrell's, I think, and that's a credit to those fans, not a shot at them.

So let's just have it out: Who did you have winning?

American Jermain Taylor made no excuses for his knockout loss to Arthur Abraham. (Photo by Matthias Kern/Bongarts/Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Mikkel Kessler was impressed by the strength of Arthur Abraham, and Jermain Taylor made no excuses for his brutal knockout loss to the Armenian star. From Boxing Scene:

"I was impressed with Abraham," Kessler said. "He let Taylor come at him for a couple of rounds and then just went after him. And he sure can hit hard."

Kessler, who fights Andre Ward on November 21 in the final fight of the first stage of the Super Six, was in attendance and Berlin. Like Abraham, he is promoted by Sauerland Event, and the Dane is one of the co-favorites for the tournament with Abraham. They are not scheduled to meet in the round robin portion, but could wind up facing off in the semifinals or finals.

And Mikkel was not the only one impressed by Abraham's strength:

"He just surprised me with the right. I didn't see it," Taylor said. "But he hits hard, and he came to fight."

Jermain has never really been a sore loser, per se, but he's made excuses about conditioning and the like for his other losses. This time, he claimed to have come in with a new level of fitness, and to be totally fair, he never gassed in this fight. The right hand that put him away late in the 12th round was just a picture perfect shot from a brutally strong man who turned his lights out. Like we were discussing before, this might have been it for Taylor, as the 31-year old has been knocked out hard three times in his last five fights. He'll finish the tournament, I'm sure, unless he physically cannot. He suffered a bad concussion from the blow and was taken to the hospital in Berlin after the fight to make sure there's nothing wrong beyond that. There probably isn't, which is good. Best of luck to Jermain, and get well soon.

I get the feeling Abraham is never going to impress a lot of us. I wouldn't describe his performance tonight as impressive, really, but when you think about it a little more, he just does the same thing with everyone, from Edison Miranda to Elvin Ayala to Khoren Gevor to Jermain Taylor. He starts slow, gets stronger, and often flushes out opponents with late-fight power they just can't handle at that point of a fight. He's tough as all hell, and he's strong as an ox. The guy can bang for sure. It feels like we might keep expecting him to have trouble in this tournament, only for him to keep going strong. I still see him having trouble with a come-forward, aggressive and strong fighter like Carl Froch, or the technically skilled and also very strong Mikkel Kessler, or even a fast, defensively skilled fighter like Andre Dirrell. But he has earned the right to be considered 50-50 or so with everyone in the tournament, even being a short guy who isn't particularly fast and doesn't always seem to land the cleanest shots. He's just a damn good fighter.

Andre Dirrell clearly outboxed Carl Froch, but the Nottingham native was given some home cooking. Froch won the fight via split decision. (AP Photo)

View full size photo »

I said a couple days ago that I hoped that the organizers of the Super Six tournament fights had scoured and been very thorough when assigning referees and judges to these high-profile, very important fights.

If we judge by Carl Froch's highly debatable decision win over Andre Dirrell in his hometown of Nottingham, there was not enough work put in.

Referee Hector Afu of Panama was horrendous the entire fight, giving Froch a ton of rope and taking a point from Dirrell. Bad Left Hook scored the bout 117-110 for Dirrell, who clearly outboxed and outquicked Froch with relative ease, tagging him with plenty of shots and not giving Froch anything to work with. Dirrell moved, frustrated, and landed counter shots almost at will. Frankly, I cannot see a way Froch won more than four rounds at maximum.

But the official scores read as follows: 114-113 Dirrell, and two 115-112 Froch cards. I just did not see it, and neither did almost anyone else in our live comments.

It was an odd fight to watch or describe, as it was dirtier than all hell, with a referee that could not keep control of the fight. I truly, truly feel Dirrell won the fight, and rather dominantly so. Froch rambled after the fight about Dirrell not being a warrior and standing and fighting, but Dirrell landed much better shots than he did, and frankly made him look like a second-rate fighter. Dirrell showed his entire range of skills, and though Andre was not clear of any wrongdoing tonight (he held a lot, and sometimes blatantly so), he was far less dirty out there than Froch.

Really, it's a shame, but did you not expect a hotly debated result like this? It was bound to happen. The question now is, does this taint the tournament for you?

There'll be more on this fight in the coming days, but for now all I can say is Andre Dirrell got a raw deal.

Jermain Taylor was viciously knocked out in the waning moments of his fight with Arthur Abraham. (Photo by Matthias Kern/Bongarts/Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Though Jermain Taylor really did look like he was in great shape and he fought an OK fight for portions of his bout in Berlin with Arthur Abraham, the script held up. Taylor started strong, with Abraham starting slow as usual, but Abraham took over the fight in the middle rounds, and in the 12th, one on-the-button right hand turned Taylor's lights out, giving Abraham three points with a knockout win in the opening bout of the Super Six World Boxing Classic.

Abraham (31-0, 25 KO) scored a KO of the Year contender with a right hand that wasn't exactly massive, but was dead on the money and put Taylor on the canvas for the count. Taylor seemed to be trying to get up on instinct, but he had no chance. He was finished.

Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KO) fought the 12th round with no urgency, which was disappointing considering he was in a close fight at best. I actually had it pretty wide for Abraham as Taylor barely landed any significant punches during the entire fight. Abraham's defense was as excellent as usual, and when he did throw, he was just better and stronger than Taylor.

We'll have more on the fight in the coming days, but right now you have to wonder if Taylor isn't just plain done. His punch resistance may be fading dramatically, as he's now been stopped hard three times in his last five fights, four of which he's lost. He's 3-4-1 in his last seven and has faded drastically as a star. At this point, you'd even be forgiven for not considering him much of a legit contender.

Taylor will fight Andre Ward in stage two, and Mikkel Kessler in stage three. Can he really win either fight? I don't see it. But at the least, he'll get good paydays. At 31, he may well be at the end of a career that at one point seemed to have him shooting up to be the new face of American boxing, but is now in a shambles.

The Carl Froch-Andre Dirrell fight is going to start in the next few moments. We'll have live coverage and round-by-round scoring in the comments of the post just below this one.

Live results and commentary start tonight at 8pm ET. Showtime is televising.

Abraham-Taylor will be shown in America on Showtime via tape delay from Germany. DO NOT post spoilers anywhere on the site. If you do, you will be banned for at least one day.

If you do not have a Bad Left Hook account, now's a great time to get one. It's quick, free, and clean, and translates across our entire network of 219 sports blogs. As a serious bonus, those with registered accounts can go into the comments during live coverage (and all other threads), and everything will update live, with no refreshing necessary on your end.

Will Jermain Taylor have to use the same excuse after tomorrow's fight with Arthur Abraham? Or has the 31-year old middleweight champ finally fixed the problems he claims have ailed him for years now? (FLORIAN SCHUH/AFP/Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Ron Borges of The Sweet Science wrote an intriguing article that pretty well hammers Jermain Taylor for his "constant excuses" for his losses. It's the sort of well-written, well-reasoned and totally cutting article that is fairly rare.

Jermain Taylor loses these kinds of fights because he respects neither his opponent’s skills or his own. At the age of 30, a professional for eight years, he claimed to have not trained properly for Froch. After they woke him up, Taylor said exhaustion and Big Macs got him not the undefeated WBC champion. Sadly, six months later he’s still saying the same thing.

"The only reason I lost to Carl Froch was because I got tired,’’ he said this week.

No, the only reason you lost to Carl Froch was because he’s a professional and you’re not. He comes to the arena physically prepared, mentally prepared and emotionally prepared. Although he is far less gifted an athlete then Taylor (or even than young Dirrell who is so blessed with speed and movement) but he defeated him because he is a master craftsman who shows up to work every day with his tools sharpened, a proper lunch in his pail and a desire to leave the job at the end of the day having given full measure to the people who pay him.

It's pretty scathing.

I do disagree with Borges' assertion that Taylor has short-changed fans; that's about the last thing I'd say of Taylor, and I've also been pretty critical of Jermain since the Winky Wright fight, which now feels like an age ago. If Taylor has really lost fights because of bad conditioning, as he claims, then yes, he's certainly short-changed himself. But not the fans. Taylor shows up to fight every time out. Both fights with Kelly Pavlik and the fight with Froch -- all losses -- were great fights, one of them (the first with Pavlik) an instant classic and the greatest middleweight bout of the decade. I see what Borges is saying, but I don't think I'd phrase it that way, that's all.

This is a fight that Jermain badly needs. If he loses, that's not the end of the world, but it can't be for the same reasons he's had before, and I'm of the opinion, as an observer, that his losses run deeper than just mediocre preparation. It's a question of whether or not he "has it" mentally, whether tired or not, he can find the resolve to stand in there and battle through a tough go of it. So far, he's had trouble doing that.

And at 31, no offense to Jermain, is there really any reason to think he's going to start now?

This is the sort of thinking that has me favoring Abraham more and more, even more than in the preview where I picked Arthur. Taylor, as great a guy as I think he is, hasn't shown the ability to persevere when up against it. In other words, Jermain Taylor is guilty until proven innocent. Maybe on Saturday he proves his innocence. Or maybe, now that he's claimed that his training is finally up to snuff, he's just out of excuses.

Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell both made weight in Nottingham for tomorrow night's Super Six showdown. Froch came in at 167, but Andre Dirrell was originally a quarter pound over the 168-pound limit. He came back to the scales a second time and had boiled himself down to 167 1/2.

Froch said that Dirrell was struggling with weight, and now that's validated. That could be an issue tomorrow night. Not only is Dirrell fighting overseas as a professional for the first time, in Froch's hometown no less, but he's had a weight problem now. Could be rough going, or maybe it won't wind up being a big deal. I'd say the chance that Froch's relentless pressure catches up to Dirrell just went up, though.

In Berlin, Arthur Abraham was at 168 pounds on the nose, and Jermain Taylor weighed in at 166 1/4. Taylor came in at 166 in April for his fight with Carl Froch, so being a couple pounds under the limit is no surprise. This will be Abraham's fight fight with the 168-pound limit, though he did fight Edison Miranda at a 166-pound catchweight in 2008. Abraham has struggled to make 160 for a while now, so in theory he'll be even stronger going up in weight, but Kelly Pavlik has had a few troubles making 160, too, and his jumps over the middleweight limit have been shaky at best.

Bad Left Hook will have live coverage tomorrow night starting at 8pm ET. And again:

Note: The Abraham-Taylor fight will be shown in America on tape delay. Anyone that posts spoiler results will be banned for at least a day.

So here we are. The beginning stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, the biggest boxing promotion innovation of the last 20 years. Sure there have been tournaments, and sure there have been huge fights, but this is a whole new level. Five promoters, six top fighters, putting it all on the line for a modified round robin tournament, promising not only a series of big fights, but some incredibly promising bouts as far as action goes, too.

The tournament kicks off on Saturday, with one fight in Nottingham and another in Berlin. Showtime will televise in the States at 8pm ET, and Bad Left Hook will have live, round-by-round coverage of both bouts.

Note: The Abraham-Taylor fight will be shown in America on tape delay. Anyone that posts spoiler results will be banned for at least a day.

I think I've finally made up my mind on these two bouts, so let's do some previewing.

Berlin, Germany: Arthur Abraham v. Jermain Taylor

Though he's obligated to complete the tournament win, lose or draw, Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KO) is in a spot that many would call "do or die." I don't necessarily agree; Taylor's three losses have come to Kelly Pavlik (twice) and Carl Froch, and all three of them were great fights. Even in defeat, I've never stopped wanting to watch Taylor fight. He brings it.

He also says he's fixed his long-standing stamina issues, but that's something that will have to be proven in the ring.

The good news for Jermain is this: He's going to have a big height and speed advantage against Arthur. Simply put, he's a far superior athlete, and don't overlook Jermain's strength, either. It's been a while since he stopped anyone, but he floored both Pavlik and Froch.

This is also going to be without question the toughest opponent of Abraham's career. King Arthur currently sits on a celebrated 30-0 record, but being honest, most feel the best win he's got is Edison Miranda, who has been thoroughly debunked as a top-flight fighter. I would actually say his best win is probably Khoren Gevor, but Gevor is no Taylor. Past that, you're looking at a list of guys like Mahir Oral, LaJuan Simon, Elvin Ayala and Wayne Elcock; decent, tough fighters, yes, but also not on Taylor's level.

Abraham (30-0, 24 KO) has excelled in part due to a pretty soft schedule, let's not overlook that. But he's also a tremendous defensive fighter, a very strong puncher, and a double tough son of a bitch who once overcame a broken jaw to beat Miranda in their first go-'round. He has shown an ability to suddenly and viciously kick into a second gear and put the hurt on opponents. Taylor's chin has been tapped and he's been stopped by Froch and Pavlik, but both stoppages came when Taylor had exhausted himself due to poor conditioning. If that stamina is improved and he doesn't gas out, will Abraham be able to captailize?

Even if the stamina issues are fixed, one thing I could see happening is Taylor just going too hard trying to score a KO win over Abraham, tiring himself out and being left vulnerable yet again. A points win may be hard for Taylor to come by, and he might feel already that he'll need to stop King Arthur. Can he?

Sure, he can. But I don't think he will, and I think this is going to wind up a fight very close on the cards, with many believing Taylor deserved the victory. He'll likely be busier and will probably outwork and outland Abraham when all is said and done, but I see King Arthur taking a disputed decision in this one. Abraham MD-12

Nottingham, England: Carl Froch v. Andre Dirrell

Back when Carl Froch was a regional fighter in the UK and calling out Joe Calzaghe left and right, he was dismissed by most American fans, and I'll admit to being one of them. Watching Froch fight, I saw a battler, yes, but also a slow, not particularly strong guy who would likely be exposed by Calzaghe or even the guys two steps below Calzaghe. I saw Froch as a non-contender when it came to the world stage.

Now here we are, Froch holds the WBC super middleweight title, which he actually had to earn by beating Jean Pascal for the vacant strap, and he's defended it against Taylor with an epic come-from-behind win in April. He can battle, he has good power, he's got a fantastic chin, and he's got great confidence.

Dirrell is a different specimen. Flint, Michigan's "Matrix" was a highly-regarded amateur and has blossomed into a terrific pro fighter, running up an 18-0 (13) record. There is no doubt that Froch (25-0, 20 KO) is his greatest challenge, and that that's not even a debatable point. Froch's chin, heart and resolve have been tested. Dirrell's have not.

And that's what this fight comes down to, as simple and repetitive as it is. Can Froch keep up with Dirrell, and assuming "The Cobra" gets to Andre's chin at some point, is Dirrell going to have the fortitude to stand in there with this type of banger?

As an aside, I think a win here really boosts Froch, and that if he makes a strong run or even wins this tournament, we could have a superstar on our hands. He's like a mix of Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe, the two biggest British stars of the decade. He fights more like Hatton, but his personality is really quite Calzaghe-ish; he's arrogant, he's a big talker, but there's also something about him when you pay close attention that lets you know how much he loves his job. Calzaghe, prickly as he could be, had that same vibe about him, always. A guy that fights like Froch does with his personality could become quite the "crossover" star with American audiences if all went well.

But back to the fight. Back in April, I thought I was going to pick Jermain Taylor right up until I sat down to piece together my thoughts for the preview article for that fight. Then my mind changed:

I really like JT. He's one of my favorite fighters, and by that I mean he's one of my favorite guys in boxing. Humble, funny, easygoing, doesn't talk a ton of trash, never seems to want to get all "personal." I think he's going to lose this fight. I think at some point, Froch is going to press him, hurt him, and move in for the kill when he sees an opportunity.

That is essentially exactly what happened in that fight, and for some reason, I'm getting the same gut feeling for this one. I think Froch is going to take Dirrell to a place he's never been (Teddy Atlas' Deep Waters™) and when the fight gets there, Dirrell will be in a massive amount of trouble. The Nottingham crowd will be shaking the building, and Froch is an excellent finisher who keeps his head even when he desperately needs that final knockout shot. Give me the "Cobra" in this one. Froch TKO-11

Taylor-Abraham photo by Howard Schatz / Froch-Dirrell photo by Tom Casino

Andre Dirrell and Carl Froch nose-to-nose at their final press conference. (AP Photo/PA, Andrew Matthews)

View full size photo »

Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell have been talking trash consistently leading up to their October 17 fight in the Super Six World Boxing Classic, and Showtime sent out some final words from both men as they come to the final days before it's, well, showtime.

Froch:

"He knows he'll be in deep water on Saturday and he knows when I start connecting with the bombs he's going to be in serious trouble."

Deep water! With the sharks!

Dirrell:

"I'm glad he thinks it's a slight advantage for him being at home because he's going to need it. I'm coming with my A game and I guarantee you that I will keep that crowd quiet and he will get lost for words by the third or fourth round."

Dirrell also said on his Twitter that Froch's mother at one point yelled at him to stop disrespecting her son.

One thing I keep expecting is a bigger and bigger possibility is Dirrell stinking out the joint the way he did against Curtis Stevens. He won that fight, and nobody argued, but it was such a performance that it's a wonder he's gotten back into the good graces so quickly, and it's a credit to the aggressive way he's fought since then that people have largely forgotten, or at least forgiven, that fight. It was just horrible, but it kept him out of Stevens' wheelhouse and he was never for a second in any danger.

Since that fight, by the way, Stevens (21-2, 15 KO) has gone 4-0 with three stoppages, including a third-round TKO of previously-unbeaten Piotr Wilczewski in July. His only other loss came to Marcos Primera, which he avenged in an immediate rematch. I'm thinking Stevens, though he's a very short 5'7" at super middleweight, just might be better than most of us realized, and that Dirrell might have just plain fought him smart, ugly as it was.

If Dirrell does stink it out, and keeps Froch from landing anything big (which will be much harder than it was against Stevens, in no small part because Froch is 6'1" instead of 5'7"), and the scoring is fair, Dirrell could rout Froch.

Arthur Abraham is the betting favorite heading into his Saturday fight with Jermain Taylor. (Photo via www.boxnews.com.ua)

View full size photo »

Undefeated European stars Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch have home field advantages on Saturday, when the two kick off the Super Six World Boxing Classic in Germany and England, and they are also the favorites in the sports books.

The Bodog book has Abraham as a -250 favorite over American Jermain Taylor (+190), and Froch at a slimmer -140 against Andre Dirrell (+110).

Abraham (30-0, 24 KO) will be on his adopted home court of Berlin against Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KO), while Froch (25-0, 20 KO) will have his hometown of Nottingham out to root him on against Dirrell (18-0, 13 KO). Both fights are also expected to go the distance, with over/unders at 11 1/2 rounds in both bouts.

As we start inching closer to the fights, I am getting closer and closer to finally making a call. Both of these are hard fights to pick, and it seems the only person anyone is actually sure about is Abraham. Froch-Dirrell has been a 50-50 call among the opinions I've read, and many feel that Taylor has a really good shot at upsetting Abraham, but the people picking Abraham are largely calling it as a no-brainer. I do think they're off there. Jermain is by far Abraham's best opponent to date.

Actually, I'm getting closer to making up my mind on Abraham-Taylor, but not so much Froch-Dirrell. That one puzzles me, and frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Every time I get close to saying, "Yeah, I think I like Froch's power and resolve," or, "Yeah, I think I like Dirrell's speed," I start changing my mind. I don't even remember the last time I was this undecided about a fight five days away.