Super six gives glimpse of the future
On Saturday night we see the latest instalment of the Super Six World Boxing Classic as Andre Ward takes on Allan Green in the second group stage.
The Super Six World Boxing Classic has proved an innovative and original platform to draw more interest to the sport and bring a new competitive edge to it. Just like Barry Hearns popular Prizefighter tournaments in the UK, mini-competitions have proved an exciting alternative to standard bouts and revitalised boxing in terms of audience.
By grouping together Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler, Andre Dirrell, Arthur Abrahams, Ward and Green (replacement for Jermaine Taylor) the organisers have created an environment where the best have to take on the best, thus we haven’t got any Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao or David Have v a Klitschko level of dalliance.
Traditionally boxing is a prize-fighting sport, but with the invention of a plethora of different belts, it’s hard for boxers to find a competitive edge. If they want to be world champion but don’t like the look of the WBA champ, go after the WBO one, or the WBC one, or the IBF, WBF, IBO, WPBF, ABCDEFG, there are almost as many belts as there are fighters.
Boxing threatens to transcend competition as priorities lie within business, money and maintaining misleading records. A cynic would say that it has always been this way, but now days more than ever you see the best fighters not consistently proving themselves against the top opposition.
This results in bitter arguments among fans and professionals about ducking and who is a real champion, who is a paper champion and endless speculation. As there is no single governing body it’s almost impossible to prove who a real No.1 is, with different ranking systems by each organisation the mandatory fighter is rarely the top contender.
So these mini-competitions could be the way forward, look at the light-welterweight division and imagine a tournament with the likes of Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana, Timothy Bradley Jnr, Victor Ortiz, Michael Katsidis and Devon Alexander, or a light-heavyweight one with Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins, Jean Pascal, Nathan Cleverly, Zsolt Erdei and Tavoris Cloud. That’s more great fights than you could shake a stick at and cuts through any bureaucracy.
These tournaments can also be used as a career launch pad. The Prizefighter series has been a revelation in Britain, it’s provided a great platform for up-and-comers such as Willie Casey and Prince Arron, or if you’re a veteran it can help claw a career back from the dead, ala Audley “world-title shot” Harrison.
There are drawbacks to these tournaments though. Like Taylor in the current Super Six, boxers can withdraw. The competition started in October 2009 and is not due to finish until June 2011 so it’s a big commitment for all those involved. It’s fair to say that fighters and their promoters can be absurdly temperamental and due to the way the competition is scored; it could prove a disaster if anyone pulls out late on, so it does require commitment, or watertight contracts which could prove difficult.
You could also argue that it doesn’t give all fighters a chance, Lucian Bute is probably wondering why he is not involved in this one and any superstar that bursts on the scene after a tournament has commenced could find himself waiting for a decent fighter to drop out the tournament before he can get a shot at a big name.
Any competition that provides a league table that promotes extra points for a KO could fall foul of the purists though as it encourages boxers to neglect their defensive abilities and focus on raw aggression, not really boxing. So arguably someone like Mayweather may not fair too well in this format, despite his obvious ability.
Regardless of that though this it is a positive step forward for boxing. It’s much more exciting watching say Kessler get defeated by Ward, only to come back and beat Froch, rather than watching Mayweather handpick easy opposition or watch Vitali Klitschko slowly jab his way through another nobody.
Of course everybody would rather just watch a proper world championship bout but they are so hard to arrange these days and the Pacquiao-Mayweather debacle suggests it might be time to look towards other ways to make these fights happen. The Super Six series and the Prizefighter series have provided contemporary alternative options and are surely a step in the right direction.
Credibility is rife in boxing, these competitions set out to determine the winner hands down and that’s something all boxing fans would like to see.
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