
but very busy with lots of domestic tuff, so I have had to sacrifice the blog updates, and this may continue for a while, but I have had to scale my bets back quite a bit.
This has been due to a few factors but primarily due to getting collared at a few of my books.
I even spotted two middles on the NFL, got my bets on and had my action cancelled without even getting an email to explain why.
I had some exposure there but one won and one lost so no damage was done.
Over the last two seasons I have done well from arbing and middling the NFL but 5 weeks in and it has been pretty poor this time round.
Now that I have cashed out my remaining balance with sporting I will look to a couple of other European books to see if they are out of line on their prices, and hopefully I will have a little more joy there.
In boxing, we have seen some recent action, not much of which has excited me very much.
I lost a little on the Prizefighter tournament which was ridiculous really as I tipped a 20/1 outsider who got to the final, winning his first two bouts. The only bout I backed him in though was the final when he had a great first round against Audley Harrison, but was knocked out in the 2nd.
Audley finally displayed some of the grit that has been lacking throughout his low profile career. Whether this heralds an upturn in his fortunes must be questionable though. To be fighting 8 fight novices nearly 10 years after his Olympic Gold is pretty poor, and it remains to be seen whether Audley will ever make into the top ten rankings of any of the world organisations. He is currently ranked #55 in the world by independent authority www.boxrec.com, but that is behind fellow Brit Tyson Fury who only turned professional last year.
I expect he will continue for a couple of years, fighting, and probably losing to fringe contenders like Derek Chisora or Fury, before disappearing off the radar completely.
Apart from Prizefighter, Sky’s output of Friday night fights has been lacking in decent contests, so much so that I couldn’t even be bothered to watch them.
Last weekend saw the start of Showtime’s Super Middleweight ‘Super Six’ tournament, and this tournament has really caught the imagination and put a much needed spring in the step for boxing.
It started with Jermain Taylor travelling to Germany to fight Arthur Abraham, and Andre Dirrell coming to England to face Carl Froch.
One of the rules of boxing betting is never to back against the home fighter on a German promotion. Of course I wrote the rule, and ignored it with my selection of Samuel Peter vs Vitali Klitschko.
Now, I am a fan of Abraham but I still thought he looked very small against the others in this tournament, moving up from middleweight and I gave Taylor a good chance of outboxing him. I envisaged him getting a decision after keeping Abraham on the end of his jab for the duration. At the odds, I had a small wager on Taylor, who was the underdog at 3.55.
Of course the judges were not needed as Abraham proved to be the puncher in the fight. Long before the knockout in rd12, Abraham had shown that a well organised style was too much for Taylor who had no plan B once his own punches were making no impression. From round 5 it was pretty much all Abraham who was easing to a wide points win until Taylor was caught flush with 20 seconds left.
This fight had me wondering
a) why I had broken my golden rule again, and
b) how Taylor had managed to defeat Bernard Hopkins twice
As likeable as he is, quite frankly Taylor is finished as far as elite level boxing goes. The Taylor who ground it out against Hopkins now seems a distant memory.
It will be interesting how Abraham gets on in his bouts outside Germany .
With his peek-a-boo style, gloves glued to the side of his head, and shorts pulled up to his armpits he has been protected from body shots by referees penalising clean blows as ‘below the belt’. He will not get the same kind of official assistance in the USA .
It would be a mistake to write-off King Arthur though. He is very tough, carries his power throughout a bout, and has a real fighting heart. Anyone who saw him boxing on for half the fight against Edison Miranda with a broken jaw will understand that.
Because he starts slowly and doesn’t seem very quick you always expect that a decent boxer could out-point him comfortably but he won’t be easy pickings for anyone.
In the other contest I figured the books had it about right, and was about to give this one a miss, when I notice the odds on Froch were dropping close to fight time.
Of course Dirrell had struggled to make weight the day before, and the line moved a little after that.
I wondered what was causing the line shift, and I spoke to a friend who was at the bout. He said that the word at the venue was that the occasion was getting to the American and that he was a nervous wreck, leading many to think he would freeze in the ring.
Of course I should have treated this info with a pinch of salt but instead I had a few bets on an early KO in rounds 2, 3 & 4, and a pretty lumpy bet on Froch to win over at Matchbook who hadn’t moved the line like the others.
For those who haven’t see it [link to fight writer] the contest (I hesitate to use the word fight) was absolutely awful, and there has been a lot of controversy about the judges scoring of the ‘fight’.
A couple of facts about the bout
Carl Froch was trying to engage his opponent in a battle of fisticuffs.
Andre Dirrell was attempting to stay out of punching range, and occasionally counter after his opponent had missed.
On my card, the score was 115-113 in favour of Dirrell.
Froch was plodding forward like Frankenstein’s monster but he wasn’t landing many punches, whereas Dirrell’s occasional counters were sharper and more accurate.
Indeed Froch appeared to be getting very frustrated as he couldn’t impose his type of fight on his opponent.
Froch has fought awkward opponents before, Matthew Barney perhaps the most unorthodox, but none as quick as his American adversary here who really was very sharp.
Now, two judges scored for Froch and one for Dirrell whilst most online pundits watching at home had the American a clear winner.
I likened the contest to Taylor v Spinks from last year when Taylor was the aggressor but plodded forward landing virtually nothing while Spinks fulfilled the Dirrell role of the bullfighter ‘now you see me, now you don’t’.
In the end, the judges preferred the aggressive intentions to the tactics of Dirrell and Spinks who were perceived as too negative.
Nevertheless, how can a fighter be awarded rounds for swinging at thin air?
The ironic thing is that Dirrell did finally take the centre of the ring in rounds 11 & 12, and reeled off a few punches that showed Froch he did have the power to compete at this level. The Englishman was even back pedalling at one stage, so if Dirrell had just been a little more ambitious, this is a fight he could have won.
I could have added to my stake in the closing stages with Froch trading at 2/1 on Betfair, even as we were waiting for the decision, but I missed out on this - I must admit I was pretty sure the decision would go the other way, but
Still, I'm not complaining with the bet putting me back in the black for the day.
Sometimes you get the decisions and sometimes you don't.