Has the “Super Six” Lost its Mojo? By Steve Kim, MaxBoxing (May 11, 2011) Doghouse Boxing - Tweet
The “Super Six World Boxing
Classic” on Showtime resumes this week from the Home Depot Center in Carson,
California, as Andre Ward faces Arthur Abraham. When this round-robin super
middleweight scrum- originally comprised of six notable 168-pounders, represented
by five different promotional entities- was officially announced in the summer
of 2009, it was rightfully lauded as a revolutionary concept that would not
only match the game’s best in a series of fights, it would bring focus and
clarity to the division.
It was not just a novel
format but to many pundits and hardcore fans, a much-needed respite from the
usual shenanigans of the business where too often, the elite fighters in each
weight class found ways not to face each other in the ring.
It was great in theory but
was it a failure or letdown in reality?
The tournament and its
backers (namely, the Showtime network) had the best of intentions but,
unfortunately, the folks in boxing just couldn't help themselves. As the “Super
Six” moves into the semifinals, half of the original participants have dropped
out (Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell and Mikkel Kessler) and this format was
beset by delays and outright cancellations of scheduled bouts. What started out
so strong, with so much promise and hope, became a microcosm of what could go
wrong in the business (There was also the not-so-small exclusion of Lucian Bute
among the original half-dozen contestants).
It's been an arduous journey
to this final four (which sees Carl Froch taking on Glen Johnson on June 4th).
"It's been a long,
winding road," admitted Ken Hershman, V.P. of Sports Programming for
Showtime, whose brainchild was this tourney. "‘Arduous’ is probably too
strong [a word] but it's been a fun experience, as well, and I think it's going
to conclude on a high note."
This is not to say that the “Super
Six” has been a complete buzzkill. To the contrary, because of the its creation,
boxing fans have been able to see fights like Carl Froch-Dirrell, Ward-Kessler,
Dirrell-Abraham, Froch-Kessler and Froch-Abraham since October of 2009. They
were all significant bouts within the division and it’s safe to say some of
them would've have never come to fruition if these fighters had not signed up
for this. Not only that, a potential star has broken out in Ward and several
fighters have suffered their first professional losses to their careers, which
pointed out the gauntlet that was this tournament. And the late addition of
Glen Johnson has eased the loss of those who decided to drop out of the “Super
Six.”
This is where things got
dicey; the scheduled fights that didn't take place have highlighted the failure
of this concept (which obviously didn't account for individuals who were not
used to playing on what was an even playing field not completely tilted in
their directions). There was the mysterious pull-out of Kessler after the
second stage of the tournament and then the even more questionable circumstances
that accompanied Dirrell's “lingering neurological issues” that “Dr. Shaw High”
simply couldn't remedy. For a full year, those involved knew that, in group
stage three, Ward and Dirrell would meet. In retrospect, that fight was doomed
from the start as it seems that Dirrell (who has seemingly made a miraculous
recovery) and his representatives never had any real intention of fulfilling
their obligation.
"I think everybody has
had to find their way as this thing has progressed, deal with the ups and
downs, the delays, the winning, the losing and I don't think anyone was ever
accustomed to it," said Hershman. "So it definitely presented unique
challenges to each fight camp. But still, here we are with the semifinals with
three of the finalists who were originally in the tournament at the beginning
and we added Glen Johnson. So, at the end of the day, it's going to prove to be
a monumental task to win this thing."
When asked him what
surprised him about this new territory they forged, the “Czar” answered, "About
everything. I think it surprised me how well-received it was. It surprised me
about the various challenges we faced with it and I think who wins it is going
to surprise me."
Lou DiBella, who reps
Johnson, said he wouldn't hesitate to be involved in another version of the “Super
Six.”
"I like the concept of
a tournament not being a single-elimination because the one thing we don't have
in boxing, that perhaps UFC does correctly, is [if] you lose well, you don't
lose your stature so quickly. You come back in a big fight. I think this is a
great concept; I think maybe, there were some lessons learned from this. About
how you would do it again and maybe do it a little differently and maybe a
little bit quicker," said the promoter, "but I still think it was a
great innovation. It brought a lot of attention to this division. Bute is now
lurking for the winner of this tournament; Kessler's coming back. Dirrell's coming
back. It’s going to be an interesting division."
Bute is now in the midst of
an exclusive three-fight pact with Showtime, which will hopefully culminate
with him facing the winner of the “Super Six.”
Dan Goossen, whose company,
Goossen Tutor, handles the career of Ward, says that while they would take part
in another version of this, he makes it clear, "Not under the circumstances
that we agreed to here. And it's not a secret; I love the format, OK? But
there's a lot of things that have happened during this course that I would've
tried to protect against. Just sometimes, you take a direction based upon
everything being perfect and in this case not everything was perfect. But the
overall concept I wouldn't change. I love it. With the pullouts, though, that
was something; even though it was anticipated, there was a lot more to it than
just being prepared for a replacement."
Bottom line, can the sport’s
powers-that-be earn the trust to do the right thing and keep their word? The
answer in this case seems to be a resounding hell-to-the-no.
"Well, I can't answer
that," said Goossen, this past Saturday afternoon at the MGM Grand, where
a media luncheon was held with the remaining fighters, "depending on who
you're saying the certain people are. You'd have to find out from the certain
people what their thing was. Look, I mentioned it here at the press conference
today; this is our fourth fight, in essence, in the tournament and it's our
first one since Kessler of the original six." Since then, Ward has faced
Allan Green and Sakio Bika, who have gotten the call out of the bullpen. "So
we didn't anticipate that and we didn't prepare for it and those are the things
that you gotta fill in the holes with. Maybe something similar to what
they do in the Olympics and they have alternates already in place where you
know if the worst-case scenario happens, it's not picking a name out of a hat.
It's someone you already know is there as an alternate."
Problem is, while that might
work in the amateurs, the business of professional prizefighting is based on
certain attractions showing up to the dance. That simply hasn't happened enough
times throughout the duration of this tournament and with it, the general
public suffers from a certain erosion of interest and faith. Just think about
it; the two semifinal fights will most likely not draw more than a couple of
thousand fans. Ward, while a legitimate draw in Oakland (where he has somehow
been able to fight all his fights in the “Super Six” in his hometown), is
largely out of place in Southern California, as is Abraham. And Froch-Johnson,
which is as intriguing a match-up as this tournament has had, thus far, is
taking place in the 3,000-seat Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Atlantic City.
If this was the NCAA’s “March
Madness,” this would be akin to having the national semifinals in a high school
gym.
Hershman admits, "I am
disappointed in that part of it but again, these are challenging times,
economically. It's hard-to-find venues that are suitable and we had some
challenges with the date and this is what we came up with. It's going to be a
great fight and it's one of the most anticipated fights and for my subscribers,
where the fight takes place from is a nice little added hoopla but they just
want to see a great fight on TV."
It was in the tournament
contract from the network that the last two stages of the tournament take place
in North America. In England, Froch-Johnson plays to a big audience. In the
States, it's just a blip on the radar enjoyed by the hardcore fans of boxing.
When asked why it landed here, DiBella answered, "To be honest, why were
there a 1,000 people at the Devon Alexander-Tim Bradley fight?" (Actually,
there were about 6,000 brave souls who were at the “Shaw Silverdome” that cold
January night) "I think that, first of all, I'd rather have a sold-out ballroom
than have 3,000 people in a 10,000-seater, just because of how it looks.
Honestly, the fight should've been in Great Britain, from the standpoint of
economics and for the crowd. However, for press, no American press would've
gone to Great Britain for this event.
"For Showtime, it's
much better that both fights are happening in the United States and I think we
could've gone to Nottingham (Froch's hometown) and done it in a soccer stadium
but for the purposes of this tournament, I think it was important for Showtime
to have the fighters accessible and to have these fights in the United
States."
Perhaps this will be new
tradition that will be tweaked and adjusted moving into the future. Or maybe
just a failed experiment that had the best of intentions that was unfortunately
felled by the short-sightedness of those entrusted to bring some sanity and
credibility back to their industry. It's clear; if it were up to Hershman, there
would be another edition of the “Super Six.”
"I would love to. I
think if we can find a weight class where there's a deep enough level of talent
and willing to make the commitment for this period of time, I think it's
fantastic."
It was confirmed to me by
attorney Mike Miller that James Kirkland, who was shockingly halted in one
round by Nobu Ishida last month, has gone back to Austin, Texas and reunited
with trainer Ann Wolfe. It seems like a good move, given their track record of success
but I think it's also just as vital for Kirkland to have gotten out of “Sin
City” because what happened to him in Vegas was happening too often, from what
I'm told.
When I asked Miller if they
were still planning to face Ishida in a rematch on July 30th, Miller
said what was now being discussed is a fight against Ricardo Mayorga, of all
people. That fight would be paired with the Abner Mares-Joseph Agbeko bout on
Showtime that still has to be rescheduled for the summer months.
Who knows if this comes to
fruition? If it should, sign me up; I love this doubleheader.
(N)O, BROTHER
I found it interesting in watching
the rebroadcast of ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” that Teddy Atlas, in listing
his most formidable brother combinations in boxing history, omitted Juan Manuel
and Rafael Marquez. I called Atlas and he admitted he just plain forgot them
and that they absolutely should've been high on his list.
OK, that happens to everyone; no problem.
Just my opinion but the
Marquez duo makes a strong argument for perhaps being the best sibling duo of
the past 50 years. Not only were they among the best fighters in the game
concurrently throughout much of this past decade, if you take into account the
great fights they've been involved in, the historic rivalries that they are a
part of, the action fights that they provided in both victories and defeat and
the fact that both may one day end up in the Hall of Fame (I think Juan Manuel
is a lock; “Rafa” is borderline), they are the Bruce and Clay Matthews of
boxing.
MID-WEEK FLURRIES
Speaking of Kessler, he
returns to the ring on June 4th, as he takes on Mehdi Bouadla. I
guess the plan is to take on Bute after this tune-up...Who here would be
against a rematch between Jorge Arce and Vic Darchinyan at 122 pounds?...Boxing
returns to the OC Hangar (which is a fantastic venue) on May 20th as
“Solo Boxeo” on Telefutura has a main event of Christopher
Martin-Charles Huerta. Also on that card is the return of Ronny Rios...Antonio
Orozco, a bright junior welterweight prospect whose last bout was scratched as
he got a late case of “bad tuna,” returns on June 2nd at the same
venue...What's worse, Reggie Bush's tweets or his ability to run inside in the
NFL?...So Andrew Bynum got a five-game suspension for his cheap shot on JJ
Barea? Hey, it's not like “Kid' Bynum-ite” was challenging AC Green's record
for most consecutive games played...I was told that Juan Manuel Marquez has
given Golden Boy a deadline of May 16th (at the end of the business
day) to match the offer he got from Top Rank...As for the aforementioned, mysterious
“Dr. Shaw High,” our own Managing Editor Coyote Duran put a true face to the
name in one of many of his single-panel, boxing humor cartoons he provides for
promoter Boxing360’s blog page. Coyote’s topics have ranged from Al Haymon
trying to wake up Paul Williams to Floyd Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe
enjoying the Lady Gaga concert on HBO. You can check them out by visiting www.boxing360.com/blog...
