by Geoffrey Ciani – This past week’s edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured exclusive interviews with Arthur Abraham, Matt Godfrey, and “Iceman” John Scully. Highlighting this week’s episode was a nice chat with former IBF middleweight champion and current Super Six participant Arthur Abraham. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
Regarding preparations for his upcoming March 27 fight with Andre Dirrell:
“It’s going very well. We trained everyday twice a day and basically we’re doing what our trainer tells us, following his instructions and gradually getting prepared.”
On the three week delay resulting from a back injury sustained by Dirrell:
“ No one is going to get in our way, nothing’s going to interfere with us. I think my opponent Dirrell has more of a problem in the head or of the heart and not on his back.”
On what he views as his biggest advantage against Dirrell:
“I’m bigger. We’ve been training hard and I don’t really think there’s much of anything he can do to me. We’re trying hard and we’ll see what happens in the ring—that will tell the tale..”
His assessment of his knockout victory against Jermain Taylor:
“It was a difficult bout because Jermain Taylor’s a very good boxer but I went into the fight feeling that I could win and when I feel that way I always win and that’s basically what happened—I won by knockout. It worked out for me.”
His thoughts on Jermain Taylor dropping out of the Super Six:
“Of course everything depends on one’s health and I think that after the knockout that I administered he probably can’t box anymore.”
Regarding Andre Ward’s victory over Mikkel Kessler in round one of the Super Six:
“I think he’s a very smart and a very strong fighter, and not just an Olympic champion.”
Regarding Carl Froch’s victory over Andre Dirrell in round one of the Super Six:
“It was more of a tie than anything. They were basically pretty much equal.”
On his first fight against Edison Miranda:
“Yes indeed, that was certainly the most difficult fight of my life. I had a broken jaw, but the fact of the matter is that I love to win and I go into the ring with that idea within me. It’s better to die there (in the ring) rather than to lose.”
On the differences between his first and second fights with Miranda:
“The thing is that the first fight I wasn’t able to show him everything that I was capable of. The second fight I was, and I shut his mouth for him.”
Regarding why he decided to move up into the super middleweight division:
“The thing is, I wanted to move up because there are better boxers in the super middleweight division and I really like America. That’s where the boxers are and I want to make my career here in America because I really like the country. That’s what inspired me to move up.”
On whether he has any concerns facing Dirrell in Detroit, Michigan:
“No, I ‘m not worried about that. I think the referee will judge the fight honestly, and it doesn’t matter if it’s in Chicago or Los Angeles. The spectators will see who’s boxing and how good they’re boxing and will applaud the one who’s the best.”
On whether he is disappointed he never got the chance to face Kelly Pavlik:
“No, we can still do that. We invited him two times to box with us but he turned us down.”
Regarding the second round match-up between Andre Ward and Allan Green:
“I think that Andre Ward and Allan Green are both good boxers but I think that Andre Ward will win because he’s just a different caliber boxer altogether.”
Regarding the second round match-up between Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler:
“I think that Kessler will win. If he should lose than he won’t be able to participate any more in this tournament.”
On who he feels poses the biggest challenge to him in the Super Six:
“Out of the Super Six, I think they’re all good boxers and they all represent a threat to me. They’re all very good boxers and they’re all very dangerous so I have to watch out for them.”
On what it was like winning his first title against Kingsley Ikeke:
“I was so happy I cried.”
On his ten successful title defenses of the IBF middleweight title:
“I just do everything I need to that it takes to win. I don’t like to lose so I do what I have to, to win.”
On which fighters he admired most when he first got interested in boxing:
“When I was coming up I only had one idol really, and that was Mike Tyson.”
His opinion of Andre Dirrell as a fighter:
“I’ve seen him several times boxing and I believe I know everything there is to know about him, but we’ll see. I don’t like to talk about it a lot. We’ll see what happens in the ring.”
On whether he would ever consider making a move up to the light heavyweight division:
“Well that’s business. If there’s a decent offer then I will certainly consider it. For the time being, though, I am satisfied at this weight category.”
His prediction for his upcoming fight with Andre Dirrell:
“Just to win.”
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