by Geoffrey Ciani – This week’s 85th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with former IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KOs). Abraham suffered the first loss of his career back in March against Andre Direrll (19-1, 13 KOs) in Group Stage 2 of the Super Six Boxing Classic. Abraham currently has 3 points in the tournament, all of which came from his twelfth round knockout against Jermain Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) in Group Stage 1. That puts him in second place, just one point behind Andre Ward (22-0, 13 KOs). Now Abraham prepares to square off against Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KOs) on October 2 in Group Stage 3 of the tournament. Arthur spoke about his career, gave his opinions about the Super Six, and touched on a variety of other topics pertaining to the current boxing landscape. Here is a complete transcript of the interview with Arthur Abraham:
JENNA J: We have ‘King’ Arthur Abraham. How’s it going today Arthur?
ARTHUR ABRAHAM: Hello. Thank you, I am good. I come today from Berlin from training. I am finished from training so I am okay, thank you.
JENNA: Well you will be taking on Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch on October 2. How do you feel about this match-up?
ABRAHAM: I think this fight in October is a very big fight for everybody. Carl Froch is an ex-world champion, I am an ex-world champion, I give my best, he gives his best, so everybody is very happy about this fight. For me, I’m learning a lot from my last fight. A disqualification is very, very hard for my heart. I want no more losses. I give my best. I want only wins, no more losses.
JENNA: Alright, now let’s talk about that Arthur. Your last fight was against Andre Dirrell. It was in America and you were behind on the scorecards. In the tenth round you had knocked him down but it wasn’t scored a knockdown. In the eleventh round he slipped and you hit him when he was on his knees. Looking back at that fight, do you think you could have done anything differently that would have allowed you to be successful a little bit earlier in the fight?
ABRAHAM: Well the mistake I did was that I let him win the early rounds and I didn’t start strongly enough, but I’ve learned from that and it will not happen again. I will come out gunning well and be very active from the first round on in my future fights because then I don’t have to do too much near the end. So that was what I have learned and that is what I will do in my next fight.
JENNA: Now that was your first loss of your career. How do you think that affects you, no longer being an undefeated fighter?
ABRAHAM: It is really, really bad for me and it really hurts.
JENNA: Okay, now this upcoming fight against Carl Froch, he’s coming off of a loss against Mikkel Kessler. Did you by any chance get to watch that fight and what did you think about his performance?
ABRAHAM: On that day Carl didn’t perform too well and Mikkel was clearly better and won clearly, but they’re both very strong fighters and Carl Froch is a very strong fighter so I expect a strong fight against him.
JENNA: Arthur, when you look at Carl Froch, what do you think is his biggest weakness?
ABRAHAM: I will not tell you right now. I cannot tell you. That is secret. I cannot tell you. That is very important for me. That is my special tactic for my next fight.
JENNA: Alright, well let me rephrase it and say what do you think is your biggest strength in this fight?
ABRAHAM: Well my biggest strength is that I will just want to win and I will fight until the end. My biggest strength is just my will to win.
JENNA: Your opponent in your last fight, Andre Dirrell, is going against the tournament favorite right now, Andre Ward, this coming September. Arthur what do you think about that match-up and who do you think will win that one?
ABRAHAM: I think Ward will win. He’s a very good boxer and he’s not the Olympic Gold Medal winner for nothing.
JENNA: Well Arthur, we’re also joined by my co-host Geoffrey Ciani. Geoff.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello Arthur. It’s a pleasure to speak to you again.
ABRAHAM: Hello.
CIANI: Arthur, I’m wondering, when you beat Jermain Taylor you jumped out for an early lead on the leader board and you made the first big impression in the tournament, but since that time, Andre Ward has gained all the momentum with his victories over Kessler and Allan Green. I’m wondering, what do you think of him as a fighter and what do you think of his two performances in the tournament so far?
ABRAHAM: Andre Ward is a good boxer. He’s an Olympic champion. In the Super Six tournament, everybody is a very good boxer. You cannot say Andre Ward is only one of the best until it’s finished. Everybody’s good. Andre Dirrell is good, Mikkel Kessler is good, Allan Green is good, everybody, Carl Froch. Everybody is very dangerous, everybody is very good. Every boxer has a little bit of a chance to beat him. Of course Andre Ward is good. The Super Six is not finished. If Andre Ward wins the Super Six tournament, after the win you can say he is the best.
CIANI: Now Arthur, the way the draw worked out, you didn’t get a chance to get matched up against Andre Ward in the first three rounds, but I’m wondering, would you be interested in getting a chance to fight him in the semi-finals and if you do get that chance, how do you think you would match-up with him?
ABRAHAM: All I’m concerned about right now is Carl Froch. He’s my focus and he’s on my mind. I don’t really think ahead. I’m not thinking about Dirrell, or Ward, or anybody else. I’m just thinking about Carl Froch. Everybody can dream, but first I have to beat Carl Froch and then I will take things from there.
CIANI: Now Arthur, looking back at the second round, Allan Green came into the tournament as a replacement for Jermain Taylor and a lot of fans were critical of his performance against Andre Ward. Do you think that Jermain Taylor might have been able to put up a better effort against Ward?
ABRAHAM: I wouldn’t say that he would have made a better fight than Allan Green, but of course Jermain is a different level of competition, a different caliber.
JENNA: Now Arthur, looking at the super middleweight division, the guy that a lot of people said really should have been in the Super Six is Lucian Bute, and I was wondering what are your opinions of him and do you think he should have been added into the Super Six tournament?
ABRAHAM: He’s a very good fighter and if he was in the tournament he would have made the tournament even more interesting. But maybe after the tournament is over we can fight against him.
JENNA: Alright, well that brings up my next question. Do you think the winner of the Super Six needs to fight Lucian Bute to consider himself the true super middleweight champion?
ABRAHAM: No, of course not. If you win the Super Six tournament then you are the champion and the king of the super middleweights. Of course, it would be very interesting to fight him and if the winner beats him he will be super, super, super champion.
JENNA: Your fight against Froch is actually going to be on neutral territory in Monaco. How do you feel about that?
ABRAHAM: It’s great. It’s the first time there will be a boxing fight in Monaco, so we can both show something historic and it’s great for the city. It’s a big honor to fight there. It’s good for him and good for me that we fight there on neutral territory and we both can show our talents over there.
JENNA: When you look at Carl Froch, what do you consider to be his biggest strength?
ABRAHAM: He has a lot of strengths. He’s very good and he has a lot strengths. His left is very good, his straight left, his uppercut, and the right straight. It’s hard to pick a single one out. So he’s a very strong fighter.
CIANI: Arthur, changing things up a little bit, the guy who’s arguably the most exciting and most popular fighter in boxing right now is Manny Pacquiao, and I was wondering what your impressions were of him as a fighter?
ABRAHAM: I take my hat off to him. He’s such a great phenomenal fighter. He’s won everything there is to win and he’s been so impressive. All he has to do now is to beat Floyd Mayweather. That’s what’s left for him and it would be very good for him to beat him, because he’s a phenomenal fighter and I have a lot of respect for him.
CIANI: Speaking of Pacquiao-Mayweather, how disappointed are you that it looks like that fight is not going to happen this year and if that fight does happen next year, who do you think is going to win?
ABRAHAM: I think Mayweather will win this fight.
CIANI: Why do you think that?
ABRAHAM” Oh, it’s hard to tell. He’s such a big talent, the type of talent you get once every hundred years. He’s got a big mouth, but he can follow it up inside the ring. So he’s a very, very good boxer.
CIANI: Arthur, I’m also curious what you think of your former division, the middleweight division, which is currently ruled by Sergio Martinez. I’m wondering what you think of Martinez and his win over Pavlik and what you think of the current state of the middleweight division since you left?
ABRAHAM: He’s a good boxer, very aggressive, but he doesn’t have the best techniques. But if somebody beats Kelly Pavlik, he must be very, very good.
CIANI: Now speaking of Pavlik, he’s mentioned that he’s going to make the jump up to 168 and I know that you’re not looking past your fight with Carl Froch and there’s a lot of business left in the Super Six, but a lot of fans were disappointed that you never fought Kelly Pavlik at middleweight and I’m wondering if that would be a fight that you might still be interested in one day down the road, regardless of how the Super Six unfolds.
ABRAHAM: Of course, it would be very interesting for him and for me because he can fill every stadium in America, so yeah. That would be very interesting.
JENNA: Well Arthur, we have just a couple of more questions before we let you go, and I was wondering if you come through the Super Six and you come out as champion, will you feel any need to have a rematch with Andre Dirrell and to avenge your only loss?
ABRAHAM: Yes, of course. That will happen at some point down the road.
JENNA: Now your fight against Carl Froch, like I said before, it’s happening on October 2. Do you have a prediction for it?
ABRAHAM: Of course, just a victory for me and I can say nothing more.
JENNA:Finally, is there anything you want to say to all your fans out there and the listeners of On the Ropes Boxing Radio?
ABRAHAM: I thank my fans in America who are still supporting me and I will promise you I’ll come back to America and I will bring you more exciting fights.
JENNA: Great. Well Arthur, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the show. I would like to thank you for your time and I would also like to thank your translator Johannes for bringing us this interview. It was a pleasure having you on again and we wish you the best of luck on October 2.
JOHANNES: Thank you very much.
ABRAHAM: Thank you. Thank you, America. Bye bye!
CIANI: Thank you, Arthur. Thank you, Johannes.
JOHANNES: Bye bye. Thank you. See you. Bye.
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For those interested in listening to the Arthur Abraham interview in its entirety, it begins approximately one hour and one minute into the program.
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