The Super Six World Boxing Classic was conceived not only to identify the world?s best super middleweight but also to develop a star. The thought process was that by having a division?s best fighters compete against one another regularly on Showtime, the winner and, perhaps, the runner-up, would develop a large fan base and become a mainstream attraction in the U.S.
That particularly hasn?t occurred, as Andre Ward and Carl Froch prepare to meet Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., for the tournament title.
Neither has ascended to star status outside the ring, though both have clearly shown themselves to be stars inside the ropes.
Part of the reason has been the length of time the tournament has taken. But there were many other issues, including fighter dropouts, which impacted the events.
But here is a look at the 10 fights that were held, ranking them in order of their quality.
10. Carl Froch W12 Arthur Abraham, Nov. 27, 2010, Helsinki, Finland: Abraham basically took the night off and lost every second of every round to Froch Fight quality: D Fight significance: B Did it win new fans? Unquestionably no.
9. Andre Ward W12 Allan Green, June 19, 2010, Oakland, Calif: Green was a replacement for Jermain Taylor but put up little resistance and lost a one-sided decision. Fight quality: D. Fight significance: C. Did it win new fans? Unquestionably no.
8. Andre Ward W12 Arthur Abraham, May 14, 2011, Carson, Calif.: Abraham again did little and Ward easily won just about every minute of the fight. Fight quality: C- Fight significance: B Did it win new fans?Not really.
7. Glen Johnson KO8 Allan Green, Nov. 6, 2010, Las Vegas: Both replacement fighters, Johnson showed his toughness by beating down Green Fight quality: C Fight significance: C Did it win new fans? Perhaps some for the 40-something ?Road Warrior.?
6. Arthur Abraham KO12 Jermain Taylor, Oct. 17, 2009, Berlin, Germany: Abraham dominated Taylor after a slow start and not only knocked him out, forced Taylor to withdraw from the competition. Fight quality: C Fight significance: B+ Did it win new fans? It helped improve Abraham?s stature with American fans.
5. Carl Froch W12 Andre Dirrell, Oct. 17, 2009, Nottingham, England: It turned out to be a spirited battle that ended in a controversial decision, with both sides claiming victory. Fight quality: B- Fight significance: C Did it win new fans? Yes, particularly for the unproven Dirrell.
4. Andre Dirrell WDQ11 Arthur Abraham, March 27, 2010, Detroit: Dirrell showed impressive boxing skills in outhustling and outsmarting Abraham, but he was injured when hit with a cheap shot by Abraham and had to leave the tournament. Fight quality: C Fight significance: C Did it win new fans? Not really, particularly given the fact some thought Dirrell was faking after he was hit while down.
3. Andre Ward TD11 Mikkel Kessler, Nov. 21, 2009, Oakland, Calif: Ward announced he?d be a factor by clearly outboxing Kessler, the pre-tournament favorite. Fight quality: B- Fight significance: B Did it win new fans? Ward beat a high-level opponent in exciting fashion, so he definitely added new fans.
2. Carl Froch W12 Glen Johnson, June 4, 2011, Atlantic City, N.J.: Froch took a majority decision in a rousing back-and-forth duel. Fight quality: A Fight significance: C Did it win new fans? Respect for both men in the sport increased, so very much so yes.
1. Mikkel Kessler W12 Carl Froch, April 24, 2010, Herning, Denmark: By far the best fight in the tournament, it was a pitched battle that could have gone either way. It was a 2010 Fight of the Year candidate. Fight quality: A+ Fight significance: A Did it win new fans? Definitely.
? Fans, particularly those of Amir Khan, are focused on the wrong thing in the aftermath of Lamont Peterson?s stunning split-decision victory Saturday in their WBA/IBF super lightweight title fight. Yeah, the referee wasn?t particularly good, but the bottom line is that it was an excellent fight between two young fighters who fought hard from start to finish. If you saw that fight, you?d definitely be interested in seeing either guy fight again.
? Seth Mitchell?s second-round stoppage of Timur Ibragimov on Saturday was entertaining, but it proves next-to-nothing about Mitchell?s ability to compete at the highest level of the heavyweight division. Ibragimov wasn?t much during his prime and his prime was at least five years past.
? An under-the-radar great bout occurred Saturday in the Philippines when Brian Viloria stopped Giovani Segura in the eighth round to win the World Boxing Organization flyweight belt from Segura. The significance of the win by Viloria can?t be overstated as Segura was on the verge of breaking into boxing?s mythical pound-for-pound Top 10.
? The legendary Roy Jones Jr. continues to fight on well past his prime, just like ex-heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield does. Jones defeated Max Alexander to win some obscure cruiserweight belt Saturday in an awful bout. That said, Jones seems more realistic than Holyfield. Jones appears to know where he is in terms of skills and is fighting an appropriate level of opposition. Thus, the likelihood of being injured is less. Holyfield, though, believes he can still win the undisputed heavyweight bout. That?s very dangerous thinking.
? The winner of Saturday?s Ward-Froch bout will be my pick as Fighter of the Year for 2011 barring anything odd or unforeseen happening.
? Finally, how great was trainer Barry Hunter working Peterson?s corner Saturday? His advice was consistently on point and he did a great job motivating his guy.
Could Mitchell deal with a Klitschko?
Do you think Seth Mitchell has a legitimate chance to defeat one of the Klitschko brothers, either Wladimir or Vitali? While he clearly has some athleticism and power, I have a hard time believing that anyone who is 6-feet-2 could ever beat a Klitschko. Samuel Peter, Eddie Chambers, Hasim Rahman, Chris Arreola: We?ve seen it all before. Any fighter who can?t reach them or punch on the same trajectory as they do, is totally ineffective. Am I wrong?
Joel Brunner Boston
Joel, I don?t think he will beat either of them, but I don?t believe it?s because of height. Peter nearly defeated Wladimir Klitschko in 2005, you may recall. The key to beating one of them is to get inside of their jab and then to fight at a quick pace. Both Vitali and Wladimir have jabs which are like power punches from many guys, and it?s difficult to get past that. If the opponent is able to do so and keep the fight at the correct distance and pace, he?d have a good chance. I don?t think Mitchell has enough experience to do it, though.
Referee was beyond incompetent
I don?t get why such a poor referee was chosen to officiate an important fight like Amir Khan-Lamont Peterson. Great efforts were made to get experienced and unbiased judges for that fight, but then they allowed that sham of a referee [Joseph Cooper] to do the fight? This guy?s incompetence was obvious from the start. In my view, it was one of the poorest refereeing jobs in a fight I?ve ever seen. He was often in the way, such as in the first round when Peterson tripped over him. He failed to break the fighters when he should have and he was breaking them when he shouldn?t have. And, of course, the deductions for pushing were just deplorable! The pushing really wasn?t affecting the fight, so why take points? I?ve been watching boxing for 35 years and I don?t think I?ve ever seen points deducted for pushing. Certainly not twice, and certainly not in a championship fight and most certainly not in the 12th round of a championship fight.
Nate Bedee Houston
Nate, I thought Cooper was awful, too, for many of the reasons you state. But I?ll disagree a bit on the pushing issue. First, Khan was pushing quite a bit and Cooper had been warning him. Now, he never really gave the so-called hard warning that usually comes before a deduction, but it is not required and he had warned Amir a number of times. And Peterson was doing great to the body and by Khan pushing him back, he was taking away Peterson?s body assault. It thus had to be stopped. I am not sure I would have taken the points when Cooper did, but Khan knew what the score was and he kept pushing. That?s on him, as a result. As I said before, though, it was a highly entertaining fight and neither made comes out of it lesser for having competed in it.
?I just came from the hospital. It was almost like at the end of the ?Rocky? movie, where Lamont was in there and Amir Khan was in there and they were both just sitting there. Amir Khan was beat up, and Lamont was beat up. Amir Khan?s hands were swollen from hitting that brick wall defense that Lamont had. They embraced each other and took pictures together and said, ?Hopefully, we can do it again.? ? ? Anthony Peterson, Lamont?s brother, speaking to The Ring?s Lem Satterfield.
