Froch relishing the challenge of the Super Six

Nottingham Evening Post Ray Yoemans22nd October, 2009

UNDEFEATED former IBF world middleweight champion Arthur Abraham sent a huge message to his fellow Super Six contestants when he knocked out Jermain Taylor in the final seconds at the O2 in Berlin.

The German, who looked strong at the weight, picks up three points for the knockout and moves ahead of Nottingham star Carl Froch, who only got two for his points win over Andre Dirrell.

It is hard to see where Taylor goes from here.

As well as he boxed against the pedestrian, big-hitting Abraham and Froch, it is clear that, at 31, he now struggles to do 12 championship rounds.

It was Taylor's fourth loss in five fights. Will he be keen to continue? Or will sub Allan Green step into the breach?

Abraham 31(25)-0 began in typically slow fashion, as Taylor snaked out his trademark jab. But most of the shots were landing on Abraham's gloves.

Abraham hurt the American, who was deducted a point for a low blow, in the eighth and again in the final round before knocking him cold with a straight right through his guard.

Taylor was taken to hospital with concussion but has now been released and has gone on holiday with his wife in Europe.

The £30m tournament, financed by American television network Showtime, pits the six best super-middleweight boxers in the world against one another in a modified round robin.

Each boxer will fight three different opponents in the group stage, earning two points for a win with one bonus point for a KO/TKO, one point for a draw and nothing for a loss.

After stage three, the four fighters with the highest points totals will go through to the semi-finals.

Next up for Froch is Mikkel Kessler, who defends his WBA title against Andre Ward on November 21.

If he wins, as expected, he will face Froch in a unification bout next year - hopefully in Nottingham, probably in Copenhagen.

"Bring on Kessler," said Froch. "He is an old warrior who will trade blow for blow, which is what the fans want to see.

"Arthur Abraham has made a good start. He's in my group. I thought he would win, so it is starting to pan out how we thought it would. It's a very exciting concept. That's why I signed up for it.

"When you are a world champion you can make an easy voluntary defence. But there are no easy fights in the Super Six.

"I've got three tough ones back-to-back. But that's the way I like it. I want to test myself against the best. I want to unify the titles."

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