Boxers like Mikkel Kessler of Denmark and then Arthur Abraham of Germany were probably the favorites to win Showtime’s Super Six super middleweight tournament at the beginning.
A lot has happened since then.
Kessler was upset early by Andre Ward and Abraham has lost twice – to Andre Dirrell via disqualification and to Carl Froch by wide decision. Only Abraham’s 12th-round knockout of Jermain Taylor has kept him in this tournament.
Now Ward (23-0, 13 KOs) appears to be the favorite. Aside from his victory over Kessler, he easily defeated Allan Green over 12 rounds and he took a win by forfeit when Andre Dirrell had to pull out with an injury. But Virgil Hunter, Ward’s trainer, doesn’t want to hear that.
“Andre Ward is not the favorite,” said Hunter, who will be in Ward’s corner tonight when he squares off with Abraham in the tournament semifinals at Home Depot Center. “He has not beat Glen Johnson, he has not beaten Carl Froch (the other two in the final four), he has not beat Arthur Abraham. We don’t think he deserves that yet, until he wins the Super Six. Then he will be the favorite.”
Showtime will televise this fight, which hopefully will be 10times better than the 12-round snooze-fest between Manny Pacquiao and “Sugar” Shane Mosley a week ago; incidentally, Showtime also will show a replay of that tonight.
A trimmer Chris Arreola of Riverside will take on Nagy Aguilera of the Dominican Republic in the heavyweight semi-main event, Advertisement
but that fight will not be televised. First bell is 5p.m.
Hunter might not want Ward to be favored, but he is at this point.
In Abraham, Ward is taking on a hard-hitter who was thoroughly out-boxed by Froch, losing by 10, 12 and 12 points last November. This does not bode well for Abraham because Ward is a clever fighter who can make opponents look bad. But Abraham is confident he has figured out how to go about dealing with someone more technically sound than himself.
“Of course, after my loss (to Froch), I had to make some adjustments,” Abraham said.
“I analyzed my mistakes and, hopefully, that won’t happen again.”
With a knockout percentage of 76.4 percent compared to Ward’s 56.5, Abraham would appear to have a clear advantage in the power department. But most of Abraham’s work has been at middleweight. This will be only his fifth fight at super middleweight since moving up in October 2009. He is 2-2 at this weight, with two knockouts.
“The problems he represents remains to be seen, but his strengths are he believes in his punching power,” Ward said. “They call him a puncher, they say that he hits hard and that he is physically very strong. But I believe that my physical strength is right up there with the best ever and I think he will see and notice that I hit a lot harder than what people perceive me to be.
“With that being said, it’s going to be the same Arthur Abraham, in terms of stylistically. He’s going to cover up and maybe open up a little bit earlier, but he is going to look for that one big shot. That’s what he does.”
There has been a beef between the camps, which could add some punch once the fighters are in the ring. Abraham’s camp, led by promoter Wilfried Sauerland, said the Ward side – headed by promoter Dan Goossen – tried to go back on a deal that would ensure only one California judge works this fight and that the referee is neutral.
Goossen has claimed all along no one ever told Sauerland it was going to be anything different. The referee is Luis Pabon of Puerto Rico. The judges are Stanley Christodoulou (South Africa), Ingo Barrabas (Germany) and Dr. James Jen-Kin (California).
Sauerland said at Wednesday’s final news conference he was notified Raul Caiz of West Covina was going to be the referee.
Goossen countered by saying that was for an undercard fight.
Whatever the case, it has stirred emotions. Hunter stood on the dais Wednesday at Arnie Morton’s The Steakhouse in Burbank, looked at Abraham and began speaking to the former middleweight champion.
“When your promoter has to get up here and complain about officials, he has lost confidence in you,” Hunter told Abraham.
Hunter went on and basically asked the Abraham camp to show him respect while he was talking. To which Abraham responded, “You can talk, but not for two hours.”
Sauerland did not respond at that time to Hunter’s comment. He did, after a day of reflection.
“I am not sure what leads Virgil to believe that we have lost confidence in Arthur,” he said Thursday. “Maybe he is getting a little nervous because Andre Ward is not fighting in Oakland this time.”
Ward’s past three fights – including the victories over Kessler and Green – were at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Ward on Friday weighed in at 168 pounds. Abraham was 167.
Arreola (30-2, 26 KOs) tipped the scales at only 234 pounds, by far the lightest he has been in years. Aguilera (16-5, 11 KOs) weighed 238.
Rose remembered as `a good little fighter’
Don Fraser, longtime matchmaker and promoter from Toluca Lake, vividly remembers the night Lionel Rose of Australia defended his two bantamweight world titles against Chucho Castillo of Mexico.
It was Dec. 6, 1968, and a large pro-Castillo crowd at the Forum in Inglewood was on hand. Rose was knocked down in the 10th round, but he still came away with a 15-round split decision. A riot ensued that spilled outside the venue.
“They burned cars in the parking lot,” said Fraser, president of the California Boxing Hall of Fame. “The Mexicans thought Castillo won and they (the judges) gave it to Rose.”
It was a fond memory Fraser had of Rose, who Sunday died after being ill for several months, according to the Associated Press. He suffered a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralyzed.
When Rose won his two titles against Fighting Harada via 15-round majority decision in Feb. 1968 in Japan, he became the first Australian Aborigine to win a major world boxing championship.
“He was a good little fighter,” Fraser said.
Rose, who was 62, made his second successful defense against Castillo, then made his third with a 15-round split decision over Alan Rudkin in Australia. Rose made it back to the Forum in August 1969 and was knocked out by Mexican great Ruben Oliveras in the fifth round.
Besides being a world-class fighter, Fraser said Rose had an interesting habit before a fight. “He used to smoke a pipe in his dressing room,” Fraser said.
Rose fought for seven more years, but was never again champion. In his second-to-last fight, he was stopped in the third round by Rafael “Bazooka” Limon in August 1976 at the Forum. He finished with a record of 42-11 with 12 knockouts.
Etc.
Freddie Roach announced he will partner with USA Boxing for the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games. Roach said he will open his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood to Team USA, whose head coach is Joe Zanders of Long Beach. Roach said he has not been given a title for this endeavor, but it sounds like he will be a special assistant to Zanders. “I want to help the American team get back and get some gold medals,” Roach said. Team USA has won just one gold medal over the past two Games, by Andre Ward in 2004. … Juan Manuel Marquez signed an offer sheet with Top Rank Inc. to fight Manny Pacquiao a third time, the Manilla Bulletin reported. That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Golden Boy Promotions still retains rights to Marquez and can match any monetary offer he receives, and the opponent would not necessarily have to be Pacquiao. Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, on Friday refused to comment on the situation. … Bernard Hopkins, 46, again will challenge Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 15 KOs) of Canada for his light heavyweight championship next Saturday in Montreal (on HBO). The two tangled in December in Quebec City with the fight being scored a majority draw. Many experts had Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KOs) winning. If he wins the rematch, he will become the oldest man to win a world title, surpassing George Foreman’s mark.
