IS BOXING’S #2 NETWORK CLOSING THE GAP?
Pittsburgh, PA- With HBO boxing floundering in many ways so far this year, Showtime will attempt to steal the spotlight between two of HBO’s few bright spots – the March 13 Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey and May 1 Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley welterweight (147 lb.) showdowns – with Stage 2 (of 3) of its Super Six Super Middleweight (168 lb.) Classic on March 27 and April 24. While HBO couldn’t force the highly anticipated Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather showdown, and more problematically won’t have one solitary significant card until Pacquiao-Clottey, Showtime continues its recent role as the industry leader, at least in terms of innovation. Will the Super Six change the way and amount we view boxing on television?
MEMO TO HBO: GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER
The failure to be first on the Super Six idea isn’t HBO’s only current flaw. Why does the network continue to approve “showcase” bouts? Here’s a suggested rule for the suits at HBO: If you know who the winner will be before the fight even starts, don’t agree to air it. Additionally, they give promoters leverage they don’t need to, pandering to Top Rank’s Bob Arum and, worse, dealing exclusively at times with Golden Boy Promotions. Their matchmaking is clearly subpar: Anyone can okay these Pacquiao and Mayweather contests or the April 24 Tomasz Adamek-Chris Arreola heavyweight (201+ lb.) slugfest; they still greatly lack the ingenuity of the Super Six, such as a featherweight (126 lb.) or junior welterweight (140 lb.) tournament. Instead, HBO’s playing defense by counter-programming against the Super Six.
IS THE SUPER SIX A SURE THING?
After the March 27 Arthur Abraham-Andre Dirrell bout competes against a relatively weak HBO card, the tourney will face its first major test on April 24, when its split card of WBC champ Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler and WBA champ Andre Ward vs. Allan Green goes up against the anticipated Adamek-Arreola bout and, for the first time, a WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) pay-per-view show. With an interesting Stage 3 to occur later this year, followed by a semifinal and final next year, the Super Six should enjoy success while it’s going, but its long-term legacy may depend on the winner’s career arc afterwards. Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali in the “Fight of the Century” after winning the heavyweight tourney in Ali’s absence. Mike Tyson knocked out a half dozen opponents after winning the 1980’s version, and Bernard Hopkins also defended his championship six more times after stopping Felix Trinidad to win the 2001 middleweight (160 lb.) tournament. Should the Super Six winner then lose to a Kelly Pavlik or Lucian Bute in 2011 or 2012, its credibility will suffer.
SHOULD WE CALL IT THE SUPER THREE PLUS THREE?
Looking at the Stage 2 and 3 matchups, it’s entirely possible that Carl Froch can go 1-2 and still secure the fourth seed. In fact, if the favorites hold the rest of the way, that will happen. In Stage 2, Ward and Kessler should outbox their foes. If Green and Froch stand a puncher’s chance against them, then perhaps we should call Dirrell’s chance a “boxer’s chance” against iron man Abraham. (If any upset will happen in Stage 2 though, which I don’t see, I’ll call Dirrell over Abraham.) The “Super Three,” Ward, Abraham and Kessler, won’t face each other in Stage 3 either, and any other boxer invading the top three seeds at that point would come as a surprise. Expect a fantastic final of Ward unifying titles against the winner of Abraham-Kessler; I’ll predict Ward over Abraham in the final.
SHOWTIME, KEEP THESE TOURNEYS COMING
The Super Six (the absence of the mistakenly-overlooked Bute notwithstanding) overcomes and solves some of boxing’s biggest hurdles, including the lack of title unification; the failure of the best to compete against each other; and the mutual exclusivity of promoters’ stables. Showtime’s Ken Hershman has improbably convinced the WBA and WBC and a handful of promoters (notably, none of whom are Golden Boy or Top Rank) to agree to up to five bouts each against the best in the world, with no way to back out barring injury. Next year, do it again, Ken.
CARRYING ON THE “STEEL CITY” LEGACY!
