Dirrell really got jobbed, and I have to say, I found Al Bernstein baffling. He had it, like the judges, a very close fight, yet at the end of the fight, he said that Froch landed only two or three solid shots in the whole fight. How do you have a guy winning rounds without landing punches? I mean, that's the fight I saw, one guy landing numerous, accurate, solid punches while the other guy flailed away at the air. And that doesn't even take all of Froch's Ricky Hatton-like wrestling, roughhouse tactics into account.
I guess its what you'd expect fighting a British fighter in his hometown. You'd better knock him out.
That said, Dirrell did a bit too much griping to the ref and did get a bit sloppy toward the end. But that's mainly a matter of maturity. I think, as he said in the post-fight interview, he did grow up a lot in this fight. His fight against Abraham, which I think is in the U.S., should be very, very interesting. This was by no means a devastating loss for him (at least it shouldn't be). Again, he should be able to box circles around Abraham.
Froch also just confirmed what a dick he is in his post-fight interview, but that's fine. It always helps to have someone to root against.
What was up with Bernstein, anyway. He's normally one of the fairest, most perceptive announcers on any boxing network. But he just seemed to be giving Froch a tongue-bath through the entire fight.
In the same way, I thought that (up until the end, of course) Albert and Farhood were giving Abraham way too much credit. I thought Taylor handled himself very well in that fight and I would have had him narrowly in the lead. Weirdly, the punch that Abraham finally caught him with didn't look all that bad. Granted, I wasn't the one on the receiving end. But I've certainly seen worse.
It really makes me hope that Taylor retires and pulls out of the tournament. He's been badly knocked out in three of his last five fights. He's made plenty of money in boxing and he should be set for life, and so should his kids. Time to become a trainer, or an HBO announcer or something. Give Alan Green (or Lucian Bute, better yet) a shot in the tournament.
I sure hope that the hometown decision doesn't turn fans off to the whole tournament. There are 10 fights to go, every one of them evenly matched between top fighters. How often to you see that anymore?
EDIT/UPDATE: Taylor was
hospitalized in Berlin with a "severe concussion." It sounds like he's going to be OK (knock on wood), but it just confirms that he needs to hang up the gloves now. The injury seems to have been from his head hitting the canvas more than the punch itself.
ONE MORE UPDATE: Taylor is
reportedly out of the hospital and has left Berlin as scheduled. If true, obviously great news. I hope he's taking some time to ponder his future and comes to the right conclusion -- hang 'em up.
I wonder how Showtime did with its inaugural Super Six show in the ratings. Apparently, Taylor-Abraham aired on regular network TV in Germany and did a huge rating there.