Showtime to do SMW tournament with Abraham/Kessler/Froch/Taylor/Ward/Dirrell?

[JonnyFolds]

You guys are going to think I am crazy, but I think it is time for the Jermain Taylor comeback. He has had his whoopins, and I think that he can outbox all of these guys. If we see a well fit Taylor.. the Europeans will have a lot to worry about!!

My picks:
JT (bosting a record of 1-3-0 in his last 4 fights!!!!)
Abraham
Dirrel
Kessler
Ward
the other guy

[skel1983]

You guys are going to think I am crazy, but I think it is time for the Jermain Taylor comeback. He has had his whoopins, and I think that he can outbox all of these guys. If we see a well fit Taylor.. the Europeans will have a lot to worry about!!

My picks:
JT (bosting a record of 1-3-0 in his last 4 fights!!!!)
Abraham
Dirrel
Kessler
Ward
the other guy

Very crazy imo, id take both American boys to beat Taylor at this stage Taylor for me shouldnt even be in this event, he is only in it because he is a name.

I think Kessler is the favourite but im going with Abraham, Abraham looked solid at 168 against Miranda and smashed him to bits, Im looking forward to Froch Abraham that will be a tear up.

[LEGION]

You guys are going to think I am crazy, but I think it is time for the Jermain Taylor comeback. He has had his whoopins, and I think that he can outbox all of these guys. If we see a well fit Taylor.. the Europeans will have a lot to worry about!!

My picks:
JT (bosting a record of 1-3-0 in his last 4 fights!!!!)
Abraham
Dirrel
Kessler
Ward
the other guy

Very crazy imo, id take both American boys to beat Taylor at this stage Taylor for me shouldnt even be in this event, he is only in it because he is a name.

I think Kessler is the favourite but im going with Abraham, Abraham looked solid at 168 against Miranda and smashed him to bits, Im looking forward to Froch Abraham that will be a tear up.

I actually am starting to lean towards AA to take it; Kessler's inactivity and no names he has fought since losing to JC might be detrimental facing this group. I think his 1st fights will be tough for him; actually there are no easy fights there anyways. I'd like to see Kessler/Ward; should be a good fight.

Taylor could spoil alot of parties if he can figure out how to keep the gas tank from depleting too soon. Will love to see Taylor/Froch again and see if JT can avenge that loss.

Froch is going to have hell to play with these slicker boxers; and his chin will be pushed to the limits by the time it's said and done. I wish Andrade could have got thrown in the mix; I had wanted to see him and Froch at some point; one of the uglier fights imaginable right now

I wonder if Miranda is a little burned about this He should be thankful he's not there; he'd be getting his ass kicked left and right.

[The Fightfan]

You guys are going to think I am crazy, but I think it is time for the Jermain Taylor comeback. He has had his whoopins, and I think that he can outbox all of these guys. If we see a well fit Taylor.. the Europeans will have a lot to worry about!!

My picks:
JT (bosting a record of 1-3-0 in his last 4 fights!!!!)
Abraham
Dirrel
Kessler
Ward
the other guy

Very crazy imo, id take both American boys to beat Taylor at this stage Taylor for me shouldnt even be in this event, he is only in it because he is a name.

I think Kessler is the favourite but im going with Abraham, Abraham looked solid at 168 against Miranda and smashed him to bits, Im looking forward to Froch Abraham that will be a tear up.

I wouldn't go as far to say Jermain doesn't belong in this tournament. I think he gave Froch all he could handle and was whooping him until the last three rounds. I still think Jermain is the serious underdog. I got him beating Froch if they were to fight again. I believe he could easily beat both Andre's because of experience. He would probably have trouble with A.A. I think Kessler is just too much but hey you never know.

I like this idea for the tournament especially were anyone can beat anyone and not just some kingpin and all other's are just decent opposition. This will be very fun and exciting and hopefully this will start a new trend in all the divisions.

[Master]

Carl Froch will come out the victor, he is the best super middle right now.

[Fenster]

Check the betting guys

Froch is favourite to win this tournament with British bookies William Hill

Carl Froch 7/4
Mikkel Kessler 11/4
Arthur Abraham 7/2
Jermain Taylor 5/1
Andre Ward 10/1
Andre Dirrell 14/1

Whether he wins or not (huge not IMO) that is a joke.

[JazMerkin]

Check the betting guys

Froch is favourite to win this tournament with British bookies William Hill

Carl Froch 7/4
Mikkel Kessler 11/4
Arthur Abraham 7/2
Jermain Taylor 5/1
Andre Ward 10/1
Andre Dirrell 14/1

Whether he wins or not (huge not IMO) that is a joke.

I have to say the odds on Dirrell are at least worth a punt, even though I'm not sure he'll win, he's got enough to outbox a fair few of those guys. Abraham is good as well at double what they've got Froch. I'll check the Vegas odds, those guys pretty much never get it wrong

[Fenster]

Check the betting guys

Froch is favourite to win this tournament with British bookies William Hill

Carl Froch 7/4
Mikkel Kessler 11/4
Arthur Abraham 7/2
Jermain Taylor 5/1
Andre Ward 10/1
Andre Dirrell 14/1

Whether he wins or not (huge not IMO) that is a joke.

I have to say the odds on Dirrell are at least worth a punt, even though I'm not sure he'll win, he's got enough to outbox a fair few of those guys. Abraham is good as well at double what they've got Froch. I'll check the Vegas odds, those guys pretty much never get it wrong

Dirrell should be a decent bet to beat Froch, when it's priced up, if they have them that far apart in the outright.

This tournament is never gonna go as planned, but not having Kessler as favourite must be a mistake.

[YIDDLE]

kessler wins the final against abraham i would think

[skel1983]

Check the betting guys

Froch is favourite to win this tournament with British bookies William Hill

Carl Froch 7/4
Mikkel Kessler 11/4
Arthur Abraham 7/2
Jermain Taylor 5/1
Andre Ward 10/1
Andre Dirrell 14/1

Whether he wins or not (huge not IMO) that is a joke.

Wow I cant see them odds being around much longer, Froch 7/4 hahahaha thats a joke!!

Abraham nice odds Kessler s pretty decent to, cant stop laughing at Froch at 7/4.

[skel1983]

Some pics and Videos from the Event from Berlin.

[skel1983]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktg7rm5ylI8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=japEabtAe08

[JazMerkin]

Some pics and Videos from the Event from Berlin.

Yep, they're definitely not marketing it as America v Europe going by those pics

[Kev]

Well as everybody knows my choice is Carl 'The Cobra' Froch to bully his way through this pack he's simply too strong for any mortal man to cope with for 12 rounds.

The dark horse is Jermain Taylor who will start by comprehensively outboxing and beating Arthur Abraham imo.

That's going to be the big shock of the first round, Taylor will dominate Abraham.

Froch will emerge in a tough fight against Direll and I expect the Kessler Ward fight to be a close affair with Kesller eding.

Kessler will be the big disappointment of the tournament though and is getting knocked out by Arthur Abraham in the shock of the second rounds.

For those that want to make some money the first round results are.

Taylor beats Abraham 115-111, 117-110, 115-111
Kessler beats Ward 114-113, 117-112 115-113
Froch beats Dirrell by 10th round stoppage.

Round two Abraham Ko's Kessler in round 8
Froch beats Ward on a SD
Taylor beats Dirrell

Then the tournament fragments and doesnt finish as planned but Froch knocks out Taylor in an unofficial final with Abraham leaving to fight Pavlik and Ward pursuing Roy Jones Jr

[Lance Uppercut]

Super Six: Logical (and lucrative) for WBC
Dan Rafael
ESPN.COM/Boxing


In May, I wrote that hell may have frozen over because I agreed with the WBC on something. In that instance, I sided with the banditos for stripping junior middleweight titleholder Vernon Forrest of their title because of his blatant ducking of interim titleholder and mandatory challenger Sergio Martinez, who clearly deserved to fight for the full-fledged title.

Now, to my shock, I find myself agreeing with the WBC for the second time in three months. Crazy, huh?

In this case, I was delighted to hear from WBC president Jose Sulaiman that his organization was going to stay out of the way when it came to Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic, the super middleweight tournament that was officially unveiled this week.

"The WBC extends its full official authorization to the tournament and will absolutely cooperate and actively participate in any matter that may need our collaboration," Sulaiman said.

In the tournament, six of the top 168-pounders will meet in a series of fights in a round-robin over the 18 months beginning in the fall, with the top four advancing to the semifinals on a points system.

The exciting event includes WBC titleholder Carl Froch (hence Sulaiman's interest), WBA titleholder Mikkel Kessler, former undisputed middleweight champ Jermain Taylor, Arthur Abraham (who gave up a middleweight belt last week to join the party) and 2004 U.S. Olympic medal winners and rising contenders Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell.

Part of the deal the fighters and promoters agreed to with Showtime contained very specific language that explicitly says the tournament bouts take precedence over a mandatory defense, although Kessler will be permitted to make his overdue mandatory against the extremely undeserving Gusmyl Perdomo, probably in early September.

Although the tournament would have gone forward even without Sulaiman's blessing, it made sense for him to back the event, so I'm not going to make the WBC out to be a bunch of saints. But at least it got on board without any issues.

Froch holds the organization's title, while Ward, Froch and Taylor are its top 3 ranked contenders. Although Kessler holds a belt from a different organization, he has a relationship with the WBC because he used to hold one of its belts.

"I am personally very proud to see that under the leadership of Showtime, some of the most important promoters of the world will work together in what promises to be a very interesting series of fights involving the best fighters in the division," Sulaiman said. "The WBC has been very closely associated with most of them, and we are certain that the ultimate winner will be a hero to the world.

"To my dear promoters and friends, Gary Shaw, Lou DiBella, Mick Hennessy, Dan Goossen and Wilfried Sauerland, and to the managers of all the fighters, please accept my congratulations for making this happen. Boxing needs to stand up and make great events like this, which can only be accomplished with unity, reciprocity and hard work."

Although I generally disagree with Sulaiman on whether grass is green or the sky is blue, it's hard to disagree with that sentiment, even though the reasons for the WBC's decision probably have much more to do with business and the sanction fees that will roll in than anything more pure.










WBC's backing of Super Six is logical (and lucrative) - ESPN