The Sweet Science 10.12.09: Handicapping Super Six Tournament

Posted by Igor Frank on 10.12.2009

Super Six; an incredible super middleweight round robin tournament will commence this Saturday from two different locations around the world.


Photos courtesy of Showtime Sports

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 power department as well. 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 town of Ward. If I was to rate over all skills 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.