ARTHUR ABRAHAM OPENED HIS SUPER SIX CAMPAIGN WITH A 12TH-ROUND KNOCK-OUT
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.10.2009 15:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ King Arthur Abraham opened his Super Six campaign
with a 12th-round knock-out of United States fighter Jermain Taylor.
With a record of 31 wins and now 25 knock-outs, it was a punch straight
through Taylor’s guard at the end of the final round which left the
American pole-axed on the canvas.
This was Taylor’s fourth career defeat and his second consecutive
loss after he suffered a last-round defeat to WBC super-middleweight
champion Carl Froch in April.
But in front of his home fans at the O2 World Arena in the German
capital, Abraham was delighted to begin the Super Six tournament with
an impressive performance.
Taylor started the stronger of the two and threw several combinations
which were sucked up by Abraham’s guard.
The American lived up to his "Bad Intentions" nickname when he was
warned in the second round for a low punch.
But the Armenian-born, German fighter finished the second and began
the third with a flurry of bodyshots.
There was an angry exchange between the pair at the end of the round
when Abraham appeared to punch Taylor in the back of the head and
the former WBC and WBO middleweight champion tore into his opponent
at the start of the fourth.
Taylor later landed a punch after the bell, but Abraham retaliated
with two strong combinations during the fifth.
Repeated low shots led to Taylor having a point deducted in the
sixth round.
Abraham drove Taylor onto the ropes in the eighth, but it was heavy
punch to the side of the head in the ninth which rocked the American.
Abraham pinned Taylor in his own corner midway through the 11th,
but the American still fought his way out of trouble.
In the last round, the German again caught the American with a
devastating combination, but it was a final punch through the guard
which knocked Taylor to the canvas and the 31-year-old was out for
the count, AFP reported.