Dissecting the Super Six: Part 2

Dissecting the Super Six: Part 2

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

July 2, 2011

In part two, Ortega examines how Showtime and promoter Goossen-Tutor prepared themselves for the hiccups inevitable to this novel undertaking and also how the Super Six has affected the career trajectories of the participating fighters.

For Ken Hershman, or any diehard fight fan, satisfaction is guaranteed. In addition to two alphabet trinkets (and a big shiny trophy), tournament spoils include the illustrious vacant Ring title plus much-deserved accolades. And had the purpose of the Super Six not written itself, culminating with the a meeting of the division’s true leaders, Showtime had covered their bases by securing a lucrative multi-fight deal with Lucian Bute. So fans of the Romanian kingpin and those dubious about the legitimacy of Andre Ward and/or Carl Froch—poised to meet in Atlantic City on October 29—can breathe a sigh of relief come the inevitable match between Super Six victor and the undefeated IBF champion.

There were a few hairy moments. Consider eleventh-hour addition and quadragenarian Glen Johnson. More than a decade had lapsed since he had fought at 168 pounds. Even with his win over Allan Green, to shortlist Johnson as one of the division’s best would be a stretch. Had he bested Carl Froch in their semi-final bout (which he nearly did before running out of gas in the home stretch), the tournament’s integrity would have been compromised, without a doubt.

As Showtime or Goossen-Tutor, who at that point were on tenterhooks waiting for Andre Ward’s last opponent to earn his place, just how much anxiety did that match induce?

“You sit back and you realize that as a promoter you deal with whatever happens. I don't get too ahead of myself. Going into that fight, we were prepared to fight either one. Coming out of that fight it worked out of perfectly,” said a markedly cool Dan Goossen.

When broached about the prospect of seeing Johnson in the finals, Showtime Sports’ vice-president Ken Hershman responded in a similar vein.

“I think that we were very comfortable if Glen was going to win that fight he would be a great representative in that finals. He's an unbelievable warrior, he's never shied away. I think that the bonus was that Carl was one of the original participants and that was nice to see and he is well deserving of his spot; he fought arguably the hardest route to get there out of anybody. It just turned out that way, we didn't know going in.”

For the sake of Ward’s legacy, any S.O.G. fan must be thrilled about a final fight versus Froch rather than Johnson. With over ten losses to his credit (controversial several may have been), a win over Johnson could hardly qualify as notable.

On the other hand, Froch, whose record includes merely one loss, has never been truly dominated. Many felt that the Englishman’s victory over Andre Dirrell in Nottingham was home cooking. Many also felt that he similarly drew the short end of the stick in the following round, fighting opponent Mikkel Kessler on his home turf of Denmark. If Ward outclasses Froch, as the Bay Area native has every opponent he has faced on the road, it would mark quite the career highlight. Those who subscribe to “Froch lost to Kessler; Kessler lost to Ward; therefore, Froch will lose to Ward” are clearly oblivious to the boxing idiom: “Styles make fights”.

On his part, Froch has the opportunity to challenge an undefeated opponent for all—or most—of the marbles.

The inherent flaws of executing a six-man tournament were obvious from the start; consider the potential pitfalls of coordinating one bout between two fighters. Now endeavor to accomplish the same result with three times as many men, over three separate stages—setbacks are practically mandatory.

Jermain Taylor was the first casualty. After suffering a concussive knockout loss to Arthur Abraham, again in the final round of a bout, Taylor was forced to pull out. His last moments in the Super Six made an indelible impression on fans, and not in a positive way. To avoid further risking Taylor’s health, Showtime did the honorable thing and essentially paid for him to renounce his participation.

As Showtime, or perhaps even Ward himself, certainly you’d endorse a fight against Taylor that would have further developed Ward's “brand”, as Hershman earlier referred to it.

Instead, Ward got Allan Green, who had been perceived mainly as little more than a hype job. Green, who boasted no signature wins, was not exactly the biggest name waiting in the bullpen the first time Showtime had to dig into their relief.

“You don't anticipate a fighter falling out but you certainly are cognizant of the possibilities of a fighter falling out,” noted Dan Goossen when discussing the Taylor-Green switch.

“When Jermain fell out, I was wishing they would go the route of plugging in a Stieglitz [WBO champion] or a Bute instead of an Allan Green. Ken did a good job of filling the leaks in the boat. The ultimate final say as it normally is with network, is it was with the network. Obviously, I voiced what my thought process was to want to fill in with one of the other champions.”

At this juncture, Bute had no connection with Showtime; to add either Bute or Robert Stieglitz, as Goossen had hoped, would have been clutch. As Stieglitz claimed one of the paper titles held in some regard, he would have proven an acceptable match. But at the end of the day, nobody was looking outside of the original pool of Super Six contestants and saying, “The road to super middleweight supremacy runs through Robert Stieglitz.” Stoppage losses to Librado Andrade and Alejandro Berrio support this.

Furthermore, Stieglitz was unheralded by the American fight fan—never mind the selling point he wore around his waist (to their credit, boxing fans are finally starting to wise up to that ploy). As well, when this writer spoke to him months ago, Stieglitz showed little interest in visiting America. He seemed to think his reputation alone precluded the overseas travel required to defend said title against the other super middleweights in contention. After all, he has not left the confines of his Magdeburg, Germany since the loss to Andrade in March of 2008.

The ostensible downgrade from Taylor to Green has slowed both the round robin’s momentum and Ward’s rising star, if only a tad. Green was a dubious fighter with no following. Few knew who Green was, and those that remembered seemed to care little. The minority of Green supporters seemed to be synonymous with critics of Ward who still weren't sold on his allegedly shaky chin—despite his taking shots from reputable punchers Kessler and Edison Miranda.

As Jermain Taylor or any boxing buff, a Ward matchup should warrant alarm; a sustained, twelve round beating courtesy of a fighter who lands plenty isn’t the most appealing prospect for a guy who has seen his fair share of wars. In this writer’s opinion, even Taylor’s most valiant effort would have wilted in the face of flush shots, head butts, elbows, and the rest of Ward’s arsenal. Still, he could have proved himself better equipped than Green, who folded up quickly under pressure and let his survival instincts prevail over his ring intelligence.

The next hiccups occurred just prior to the third stage of the Super Six. After picking up the WBC strap in a war with Carl Froch in what was easily the tournament's most exciting bout, Mikkel Kessler announced his withdrawal following an eye problem that had him seeing double—despite the subsequent Fight Camp 360 footage that shows Kessler behind the wheel of an expensive car talking to the cameras just minutes after.

The following glitch, too, seemed suspect. Andre Dirrell, citing a neurological injury resulting from punches landed by Arthur Abraham, was the next to resign. In their second stage bout, Dirrell had slipped to a knee when Abraham struck with a vicious uppercut to the head—and was then disqualified. Not long after, Dirrell's team began negotiations with Andre Ward’s camp.

The clash between former teammates was hotly anticipated. Stylistically, Dirrell posed a challenge for Ward, who had arguably won every round against his first two opponents. The fight was pushed back. A Fight Camp 360 episode featured Dirrell trainer Leon Lawson stating that the money needed to be right before they would get in the ring.

The money wasn't right and neither was Dirrell's health, so he bowed out. His character, which had been under fire from the gate, invited further doubt. Dirrell’s public presence faded to black and only now is he beginning to reappear. Fans will likely see him back in the ring before the end of the year.

Kessler and Dirrell’s collective withdrawal left an empty ring to be filled. Enter Glen Johnson against Allan Green. A decade had lapsed since Johnson had fought at 168 pounds; in fact, the fighter was coming off a recent loss to Tavoris Cloud at a whopping 175. Despite uncertainty regarding Johnson’s ability to make weight, he achieved the task and was rewarded with a fight against Green, an old sparring partner—one who had admitted having trouble with the older fighter.

Oakland then saw native son Andre Ward in what was deemed a “non-tournament” bout. Ward’s third match placed him in the ring with the extremely dirty Sakio Bika, who lacked following, personality, and a complimentary style. Ward emerged from the tough fight victorious; sadly, his stock rose little. Weighing that fight against one with Dirrell had to be a letdown for Team Ward. Dan Goossen was candid in his discussion of the subject.

“As you're well aware, there's no bigger commitment a fighter makes than what the original six fighters committed to, which is fighting the best in back-to-back-to-back cases. We all felt [Ward] was prepared to fight Taylor and he was prepared to fight Andre Dirrell. The circumstances in our case didn't work out with either and I know in the case of Kessler it didn't work out for Green. You deal with it and you move forward.”

Stumbling blocks aside, Goossen then expounds on the beauty of the round robin format.

“You think about Arthur Abraham, who was 1-2 in the three stage fights but he made it to the semi-finals based upon a knockout and if he could have scored the upset against Andre Ward, he reverses all the losses he incurred in one fight. In our sport it's very hard to have someone that's won one fight out of his last three and to be in a position to turn it all around with one fight. Those are benefits for the fighters that join the tournament and make the commitment to fight one tough fight after another and realize even in losing they can still end up becoming a winner. Similar to what you see in our other sports like baseball and basketball where you can lose and still come back and win a series of other games and end up coming out on top. It's a lot more forgiving in the Super Six format for losing. From the winner's standpoint you are taking on a much higher risk, bigger reward position going through the winners bracket. You're always facing a hungry fighter.”

That glory (and a guaranteed payday) stands just one bout away from any fighter, regardless of loss, certainly poses a tantalizing carrot.

“I think there are no losers in this tournament,” supports Hershman.

“People still want to see Glen Johnson fight, still want to see Mikkel Kessler fight, and I think people still want to see Jermain Taylor fight, believe it or not. I think that there are no losers from that perspective and when you're fighting the amazing caliber of fighters we had in this tournament, someone's gonna lose. Carl Froch lost to Mikkel Kessler. Certainly no shame in that; didn't set his career back for a second. He came right back put on an amazing performances against Arthur Abraham, beat Johnson and is now off in the finals.”

Since one of the main objectives of the Super Six (outside of establishing the winner as a pound-for-pound entrant and legitimate boxing star) was to ensure post-tournament marketability for the participants, one would be hard pressed to claim that Showtime and the promoters involved failed to achieve this—critics and all.

Prior to the round robin’s onset, then-middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik candidly expressed his scorn.

“Let them beat each other up, let them ruin their careers for peanuts,” jeered Pavlik. “Why would I be in that tournament when I am a middleweight? They never asked me and I never wanted to join. They're going to burn their whole careers, and for what? Nobody watches Showtime. Trust me, when the winner of the tournament fights his next fight, it will be on HBO.”

Note that Showtime drew 1.3 million viewers on May 7^th of this year—for a card that included Pavlik himself. Ironic that Pavlik now finds himself on the outside looking in while many of the Super Six participants see their careers flourishing.

In fact, none of the fighters save for Allan Green and perhaps Andre Dirrell, has seen their career freefall into mediocrity following their involvement with the tournament. And Green enjoyed two bonafide paydays that some might argue that he didn’t deserve in the first place.

Mikkel Kessler's last fight was featured on tape delay under the Froch-Johnson semi-final; clearly, Showtime has plans for Kessler. Plan A (matching Kessler with Bute in Montreal), however, was thwarted despite a high money offer being lobbied at the Dane.

Glen Johnson’s career enjoyed revitalization by opening up a whole new weight class of contenders. If his performance against Froch is any indication, Johnson cannot and should not be disparaged as an opponent for fighters on their way up.

Despite three consecutive losses, Arthur Abraham can now return to middleweight and reinstate dominance where he is technically undefeated. That Abraham was given two title shots following his first loss is unheard of, furthermore affirming Goossen’s claim that the potential rewards [of the tournament] far outweigh the risks.

Andre Ward, who had been considered the fifth or sixth best horse running, is now the odds-on favorite and consensus #1 in the division. And this is without wins over a marquee name like Jermain Taylor.

Jermain Taylor’s return will be televised on Showtime airwaves after bowing out of the tournament almost two years ago; enough said.

Carl Froch, who rebounded from his first loss with a terrific win over Abraham, now enjoys the division’s #2 ranking—even though his last two wins were over guys coming off losses.

From a fighter’s perspective, the Super Six has been a pretty successful experience.

Offers Ken Hershman, “The career paths of the Super Six have skyrocketed and the prospects for those guys have skyrocketed and their name recognition has skyrocketed. Those are all the things we wanted to achieve and accomplish and we feel that we delivered on it. I think their careers have been enhanced dramatically, their pocketbooks have been enhanced dramatically, and if you ask them about their experience they'll all tell you how positive was.”