By Ismael AbduSalaam
Abraham
Silences Miranda
Trash talkers have two extremes that befall them
throughout their careers. When they back up their tough talk, they receive
grudging respect for sealing the deal and admiration for the entertainment they
bring to their respective sport.
When they lose, they’re derided as loudmouths who
finally got what was coming to them. In boxing, getting your comeuppance using
comes in the form of brutal punching separating your brain from your senses.
Heavy handed slugger Edison Miranda (30-3, 26 KOs) received just that, as
Arthur Abraham (27-0, 22 KOs) tore through him in four rounds on June 22.
Round one saw Abraham immediately establish
distance with his jab at mid-range. The punch landed regularly and kept Abraham
at a safe distance to see Miranda’s powerful but wide-swinging shots. Whenever
Miranda would breach Abraham’s comfort zone of mid-range, Abraham utilized a
high earmuff guard ala Winky Wright to pick off his opponent’s shots.
In the last minute, Abraham scored with sharp left
and right hooks to the head and body before immediately jumping back out of
range, forcing Miranda to chase and wing shots as the round ended.
Round two saw a more aggressive Miranda, who
bullied Abraham to the ropes and worked the body with hard, thudding hooks.
Abraham kept his cool and focused on protecting his head with his gloves, and trying
to pick off Miranda’s body attack with his elbows. Miranda continued trying to
find openings, but could not penetrate his opponent’s defense for a clear shot
even after being goaded and waved in by Abraham.
After shooting a wild low blow, Miranda was warned
despite winning the round on activity. Round three saw both men challenge each other’s
toughness as they exchanged power shots in the center of the ring. The
difference was Abraham was not getting hit due to his tight guard, while
Miranda’s defense was constantly being broken by jabs and hooks.
With 38 seconds left in the round, Abraham buckled
Miranda’s knees with a right counter over his jab. In his zeal to rush in and
retaliate, Miranda ate an uppercut and a left hook on the inside to close out the
round.
Abraham pressed his advantage in round four, and
now used his superior technique to drop Miranda with a counter right on the
inside with 2:38 remaining in the round.
Clearly stunned, Miranda rose and attempted to
clear his head by jabbing and moving away. Unfortunately for Miranda, his
greatest weakness is he cannot fight going backwards. And the Columbian made
the crucial mistake of going straight back right into a crashing left hook
which floored him again.
Miranda rose for a second at the count of five,
only for Abraham to ruin him with another leaping left hook to cause the
referee to stop the bout with 1:45 remaining.
The huge win for Abraham clears up questions about
their foul-filled 2006 encounter (which Abraham also won), and opens the door
for a possible showdown with Kelly Pavlik. While Abraham is the better inside
fighter, Pavlik holds the advantage on the outside with his superior jab and
straighter punches.
Hopefully that fight can be made by the end of the
year.
Round 1