By Carl J. Hewitt
With less than two weeks to go until the Super Six Super Boxing Classic kicks off, boxing fans everywhere are pondering how things will “shake out” for the six super-middleweights on the firing line. The Super Six, a brainchild of Showtime Sports' Ken Hershman, has all the earmarks of an idea that will withstand the test of time. What if every prominent weight class had such a tournament to lend clarity to divisional pecking order? Would the sanctioning bodies and their increasingly meaningless belts be rendered irrelevant? Would the sport's biggest names participate? All of these questions beg answers, but we'll let them marinate in our minds for now... let's get down to the business of assessing where each fighter stands in this tournament, what factors way for and against each fighter, and which of these top super-middleweights stands to gain the most.
Jermain Taylor vs. Arthur Abraham: After resounding defeats in three of his last four fights, many in the boxing community have written Taylor off in much the same manner that Jeff Lacy was cast aside following his beating at the hands of then WBO 168 lb. king, Joe Calzaghe. As emotionally painful as the second loss to Kelly Pavlik was, it's the last second KO suffered at the hands of Carl Froch that has to really sting. Leading by four points on two scorecards after Round 11, Taylor needed only to remain upright for the final three minutes in order to secure victory. Exhausted and unable to stay away from Froch's fight-ending power, the 'Pride of Little Rock' got clocked in the final minute of the final round, in perhaps the most gut-wrenching “bottom-of-the-ninth” defeat witnessed since Meldrick Taylor's infamous loss to Julio Cesar Chavez in a nearly identical scenario almost two decades ago.
Taylor is a “live” underdog against 'King Arthur', but he'll have to contend not only with a hostile crowd in Abraham's native Germany, but his own conditioning issues, as well. No fighter in this field of six has faced the level of competition that Taylor has, so he'll hold a sizable experience advantage over any of his five potential opponents, but the fact that fatigue late in big fights have followed him from 160 to 168 lbs. does not bode well for his chances in a long fight against a fighter with the heart, will and skill of Abraham. Few can forget how Abraham fought with a jaw broken in several places against Edison Miranda in their first showdown in 2006, or how he savaged the Colombian in their rematch two years later.
Abraham must contend with many disadvantages in this fight, including size, experience, speed and physical strength – but it's the fact that Taylor wilts like a daisy late in tough fights that has bookmakers installing King Arthur as a prohibitive favorite. Still, if he can somehow tame his stamina problems and prove to be as effective in the fight's final half as he is in its first, Taylor has a much better chance in this fight than he's being given.
Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward: Of the three first round matches, this one appears to be the most intriguing. Why? Because of the fact that no one from California to Copenhagen knows whether 'The Viking Warrior' has learned much if anything from the loss he suffered in the showdown with fellow 168 lb. champ, Joe Calzaghe. In that fight, Kessler failed to make adjustments, failed to fight to his strengths and failed to dictate the action at any stage of the bout. If he suffers the same mental “meltdown” against Ward, chances are very good that he will suffer a similar defeat. Now, this is not to say that Kessler isn't amongst the twenty finest fighters in the sport, because he is – it was just very startling to see him make hardly any discernible adjustments against Calzaghe, in the biggest and most pressure-packed fight of his career. Gone was the jab. Gone were the effective ring generalship and crisp combinations which were on display several months earlier against teak-tough Librado Andrade. Gone was the unbreakable confidence of an unbeaten champion. Kessler was out-fought, out-thought and “out-championed” by Calzaghe, in a fight nearly half the boxing community gave the Dane a good chance to win.
Against Oakland's Ward, Kessler will have to get back to his jabbing and combination-punching ways, because if he tries to load up on power punches in hopes of ending the night early, he will find himself on the receiving end of a shellacking not unlike the one he endured in Cardiff, Wales. Ward is a versatile, confident, and highly self-critical fighter who seldom makes fatal mistakes at pivotal points in a fight, if ever. The Bay Area native is that rare young fighter with a thin resume who appears to know where he's going and fully well how to get there. Kessler is a major step up in competition for Andre, as his only notable opponent to date is the faded Miranda, in a fight that turned out to be much easier than expected. All the same, Ward was only slightly satisfied with his performance that night, knowing that to compete with the “big dawgs” at 168 lbs., he'd have to continue to improve in all areas – that's the mark of a young fighter bound for future ring excellence.
The Kessler camp has to be unnerved by the fact that Mikkel has done virtually nothing to convince fans that he's improved one iota since the loss to Calzaghe -- it makes this fight all the more interesting. Had Kessler followed up his dull performance that night with victories over solid opposition, there would be more to hang our hats on and to justifiably label the upcoming scrap with Ward as a potential “blow-out” in favor of the Dane, but managerial quicksand, long bouts of inactivity and an apparent disinterest in facing the best in his division have all conspired to take the “bloom off the rose” for Kessler. This is his chance to get it back, and he can, but only if he applies what he should have learned from the Calzaghe defeat. If he doesn't apply those lessons or didn't learn them to begin with, Mikkel is staring squarely at his second career defeat. Andre Ward isn't the type of opponent you want to face if you're equipped with only a Plan A, but no Plans B, C, or D.
Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell: Perhaps no fighter this side of Floyd 'Money' Mayweather exudes more confidence than Froch. From calling out Calzaghe to challenging and beating Taylor is his “own back yard”, 'The Cobra' is a throwback to the days when top fighters fought other top fighters at the drop of a hat, even if it meant hitting the road to do so...and that's exactly what Froch did when he “iced” Taylor in the twelfth and final round of an affair he was trailing in badly throughout. And it's that type of grit and “never say die” attitude that gives the Nottingham native more than a fighting chance to emerge victorious when the dust settles on this tournament. In terms of the intangibles, Froch's only close rival appears to be Abraham. And with Jean Pascal's WBC 175 lb. title-winning effort over Adrian 'The Shark' Diaconu in June, Froch's victory over the Canadian last December is looking better all the time. Throw in the Taylor victory and it's fair to say that Froch is on a bit of a roll.
Because his level of opposition is so suspect, it's hard to get a true read on Dirrell's prospects, but there's no denying his talent. Many will argue that based on resume, Dirrell has no business in this tournament, and rightfully so. However, the fact that Andre and his camp eagerly accepted a tough assignment on the road against a hungry champion like Froch speaks volumes. And few can forget the clinical performance turned in by Timothy Bradley last year in relieving Junior Witter of his WBC 140 lb. belt. Can youth once again be served across the pond? Not so fast...
While Froch is clearly the least-talented of the six combatants in the tournament, he is clearly the hungriest, an odd thing to posit, considering the fact that the two Andres are eagerly trying to make names for themselves. But truth be told, it's apparent that Froch has an appetite for competition that borders on maniacal – what he lacks in true boxing talent, he more than makes up for in tenacity. Yes, Dirrell is a southpaw. Yes, Dirrell has superior talent. And yes, Dirrell has youth on his side. Keep in mind, though, that this Andre has absolutely no experience against top-tier competition, a deficiency that no amount of raw talent can overcome.
When the waters get choppy and the going gets tough, we know how Froch responds. How will Dirrell? That's the big question concerning this bout, a bout in which we have a hungry, tested champion eager to stamp himself as the world's top 168 lb. fighter against an unproven young lion who has been fed a steady diet of mediocre journeymen. Of the six fighters vying for super-middleweight supremacy, Dirrell is easily the least-credentialed of the bunch. It's been validly argued that IBF champ, Lucien Bute or top contender, Andrade, are much more deserving of a spot in the tournament than the two Andres. But wasn't the aforementioned Timothy Bradley in precisely the same position last year entering the Witter fight? Very few fans knew who he was, where he came from or even whether he had an extensive amateur background to speak of. And then he rendered all of the questions about his credibility moot with a near-flawless performance. Will Dirrell follow suit?
Abraham is fighting to establish a foothold in a new division and escape the long shadow cast by fellow middleweight champion, Kelly Pavlik. Taylor is fighting to reverse the downward trend of his career. Kessler is fighting to establish himself as the world's top 168 lb. fighter A.C.(After Calzaghe). Ward is fighting to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a world champion, a dream he shared with his late father. Dirrell is fighting for credibility and the respect of the boxing community. And Froch is fighting because that chip on his shoulder says he must!
All of these excellent super-middleweight warriors have different motivations for winning the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Who has the most to gain? That question is impossible to answer because each fighter is coming from a different place in his career. The one certainty is that the last fighter standing will have made E.F. Hutton proud – he will have earned it!
