Showtime?s Super Six World Boxing Classic was supposed to breathe some life back into boxing. Showtime took six of the best Super Middleweights in the world; Arthur Abraham, Andre Dirrell, Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler, Jermain Taylor, and Andre Ward, and matched them in a modified round-robin?style tournament. It was just what boxing needed; the best fighting the best when the time was right.
The first round produced great results. Arthur Abraham battered Jermain Taylor for eleven brutal rounds in Germany, before flattening him in the twelfth. Carl Froch notched a rough and dirty, yet entertaining split decision win over Andre Dirrell in the United Kingdom. In the last fight of the first round, Andre Ward dominated a swollen, cut, and bleeding Mikkel Kessler to win the WBA Super World Super Middleweight title. Despite the mild controversy surrounding Froch and Dirrell, the boxing world was abuzz over the tournament.
The first roadblock came when Jermain Taylor announced he was withdrawing from the tournament to temporarily retire. He had been brutally knocked out three times in his last four fights, and he felt continuing in the tournament would only threaten his long-term health. The talk of his replacement began to swirl. Sakio Bika, Allan Green, and Lucian Bute were mentioned as possible replacements for Taylor. Taylor, at the time, was fighting under Lou DiBella, and it only seemed right that another Lou DiBella fighter take his place, and as an indirect result, Allan Green was granted entry into the tournament.
The second round had its ups and downs. Arthur Abraham was out-boxed by Andre Dirrell, and looked to score an eleventh-round KO victory before it was ruled a disqualification. As Dirrell Slipped in the corner, he fell to his knees, Abraham hit him with a right hook and knocked him unconscious, forcing the referee to award the disqualification win to Dirrell. Carl Froch and Mikkell Kessler fought a back and forth war in Denmark a month later. Kessler earned a close decision victory in what could end up being e Fight of the Year candidate. In the third match of the second round, Andre Ward dominated Allan Green in a boring fight with little action and many clinches.
The tournament seemed to lose all of its steam in the third round. Mikkel Kessler withdrew with an eye injury, forcing Showtime?s executives to dismiss Allan Green and make the remaining bouts between Ward and Dirrell, and Froch and Abraham, into Semi-final matches. Ward and Dirrell continue to leave the tournament hanging, as they fight over the venue to host their fight. Earlier this week, Froch announced he was withdrawing from his fight with Arthur Abraham due to a back injury.
Froch and Abraham?s representatives have asked to re-schedule their fight to mid-November or December. Ward and Dirrell have been served letters of legal notice, mandating that they fight before September 9, 2010. With each day that passes, it appears less likely that these two will come to an agreement, effectively calling and end to the tournament.
An idea that once seemed like it would help re-invigorate the sport has now revealed one of boxing?s ugliest blemishes; the best fighters are not willing to continually fight the best. With six men in the tournament, and the potential for the tournament to play out over a span of eighteen to twenty-four months, the possibility for injury or re-consideration is too large.
Take two: Showtime announced last week that it was hosting another tournament, this time in the Bantamweight (118-lb) division. This time around, Showtime reduced the number of participants to four, and the tournament will be sinlge-elimination-style. Joseph Agbeko, Vic Darchinyan, Abner Mares, and Yonnhy Perez will face off to decide the tournament’s winner.
The first round features Abner Mares (20-0-1, 13 KO) and Vic Darchinyan (35-2-1, 27 KO) headlining a November 11, 2010 card from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. IBF Bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez (20-0-1, 14 KO) will face Joseph Agbeko (27-2, 22 KO) in a rematch of his title-winning effort over Agbeko last Halloween. The winner?s will face each other for the tournament title in the next round, with the losers squaring off in the third-place match.
Barring any serious injury in the first round, the Bantamweight tournament should go off without a hitch. If successful, the format could be used for future tournaments, in many weight divisions that are in need of maintenance. In the spirit of Elevating the Sport of Boxing, let?s hope this tournament energizes boxing, as a lackluster 2010 nears its end.
