THE SWEET SCIENCE 10.12.09: HANDICAPPING SUPER SIX TOURNAMENT
Igor Frank
411mania.com
10.12.2009
Super Six; an incredible super middleweight round robin tournament will
commence this Saturday from two different locations around the world.
First two bouts feature former undisputed middleweight champion,
Jermain Taylor and three undefeated stars, Arthur Abraham, Andre
Dirrell and Carl Froch. 02 Arena in Berlin, Germany will play a host to
a fight between Jermain Taylor and Arthur Abraham. On the same night,
October 17th, Carl Froch will defend his WBC super middleweight belt
against Andre Dirrell at Nottingham, England. Both fights will be
televised on Showtime. A month later, top ranked super middleweight
in the world Mikkel Kessler will defend his WBA title in Oakland
California facing undefeated American, 2004 Olympic gold medalist,
Andre Ward. And this is just a beginning.
"There has never been anything in boxing history quite like it," said
a boxing historian and long time Showtime commentator, Steve Farhood:"
There are fifteen potential match ups. Not a bad one among them."
We have six elite super middleweights fighting each other for the
ultimate prize, being undisputedly the best in the world.
What is so intriguing about this tournament is that each fight could
be a huge event on its own and it is very difficult to predict the
outcome of any bout and almost impossible to pick the winner of the
tournament. But despite the challenges, bookmakers have posted the odds
on the Super 6 Classic winner. Let’s take a look at it more closely.
A favorite to win it all is WBA champion, a Viking warrior, 30 year
old Mikkel Kessler from Denmark. With the record of 42-1, 32 KO’S,
Kessler is the most experienced, high level professional ranks fighter
among the six. He is fundamentally sound with a good hard jab and
heavy power in both hands. The only loss on his record was to Joe
Calzaghe who retired undefeated and has to be considered one of the
best super middleweights ever. Kessler is favorite in pow l. Despite
a limited amateur experience with only 47 fights, Kessler excelled as
a professional and turned into a complete fighter. Betting on Kessler
to win it all is considered a safe bet. Bookies have him at +235,
meaning if you bet 100 bucks on the Dane, should he be victorious,
you will win $235.00.
Right behind him, as far as odds posted, at +240, is long reining
middleweight champion, undefeated Arthur Abraham who is moving up in
weight for this tournament. Weight should not be an issue for a 29
year old champion, who has struggled to make middleweight limit of
160 pounds for the past couple of years. Born in Soviet Armenia,
residing and practicing his trade in Germany, King Arthur has
developed quite a loyal fan base with his distinctive style and
explosive power. Abraham keeps his high guard and is content to
show that he can take it for long periods in the fight, letting his
opponents unleash their offence. After allowing opponents to punch
themselves out, Arthur explodes with his powerful and very accurate
bombs that usually cause a lot of damage. Besides excellent technical
skills and explosive power Abraham has a heart of a champion; having
his jaw broken early on in a battle with a dangerous puncher Miranda,
King Arthur revealed his warriors spirit by fighting through adversity
and pain and ultimately wining the fight on the scorecards. Because of
the controversial nature of the decision in their first fight Abraham
agreed to a rematch with Miranda in United States, showing once again
what he is made of, and subsequently knocked out the Colombian within
four rounds. Abraham is fighting for name recognition; he badly wants
to be a cross over star.
Number three on a bookmakers list, at +450, is a current WBC undefeated
champion from United Kingdom, Carl Froch. Thirty two year old Britt
is a very solid all around fighter. After unsuccessfully calling out
Joe Calzaghe for years, Carl decided to take his show on the road
and to defend his title in United States against a former unified
middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. It was a very gutsy move that
almost backfired; after being down for the first time in his career
and being behind on the scorecards, Carl "The Cobra" Froch readjusted
his game plan and mounted a spirited comeback and finally stopped
Taylor at 2:46 of the 12th stanza. Froch has always maintained that
his skills and power will be too much for any super middleweight and
he is anxious to prove it in the ring.
Next up at +500, is an American, 2004 Olympic Gold medalist from
Oakland , California, undefeated, Andre Ward. At only twenty five
years old Andre is all around skilled boxer, who has not lost a
fight, including amateurs, since he was twelve. When asked about his
style, Ward replied: "I don’t have a style. I adapt to situations
in the ring." Ward demonstrated that he belongs in the elite of the
division when he completely out boxed and at times out fought and
bullied dangerous Edison Miranda this past May when they fought in
Oakland. Ward might not have a one punch knock out power, but he is
a very skilled and consistent boxer, who knows his way around the
squared circle. One more thing that will help an American challenger
in his next fight against a favorite Kessler is that the contest
will take place in Oakland, a home ls and speed and consistency,
I would rate Ward at the top among the Super Six.
Number five on the list, at +750, is former undisputed middleweight
champion, Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor. At only thirty one, after
beating Bernard Hopkins twice and being in two ring wars with a current
middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, Taylor is considered a veteran of the
sweet science and his skills and speed should not be discounted. Last
time in the ring, ahead on the score cards, Taylor ran out of gas and
got knocked out by Carl. Jermain is here to exercise his demons. He
believes he can win his next fight in Germany against Arthur Abraham
if he can pace himself and finish strong.
The dark horse in this tournament is Andre "The Matrix "Dirrell. At
+1200, I consider Andre a very good bet. Despite bookmakers making him
the least likely to succeed because of lack of top level professional
experience, twenty seven year old Dirrell is 2004 Olympic bronze
medalist in super middleweight division with 237 registered amateur
wins. Dirrell has to be considered favorite in pure athletic gifts and
speed department and his confidence is at a very high level. True,
he has never faced adversity in the ring, but that is about to
change. Dirrell and his adversary Carl Froch have been doing a bit
of trash talking. May be that is the way they psyche themselves for
an important fight.
Super middleweight division has been traditionally dominated by
European fighters, thus three favorites in this tournament are all
from Europe. But what is so exciting about this is that no one can
predict the winner with any degree of certainty. So all we can do is
sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
I would like to personally express my gratitude to Showtime for
having a vision to put it together and to five different promoters
for making it happen.At the end of the day we will know who the best
super middleweight is, but no matter who it will be , the real winner
will be a boxing fan.