By Keith Idec (photo by Tom Casino/Showtime)
Allan Green looks and acts the part about as well as any top boxer in the sport.
He has a 29-1 record, including 20 knockouts, possesses power in both hands and is one of boxing’s most convincing, thoughtful trash-talkers. The Tulsa, Okla., native also has noteworthy wins on his respectable record, most recently a 10-round unanimous decision victory over previously unbeaten Tarvis Simms on Oct. 2 in Newkirk, Okla.
Much like his opponent tonight did Nov. 21, though, Green must use his first fight in Showtime’s “Super Six World Boxing Classic” as his proving ground. To validate himself as a legitimate threat in this six-man tournament, Jermain Taylor’s replacement must upset heavily favored, undefeated Andre Ward in the 2004 Olympic gold medalist’s hometown tonight (10 p.m. EDT; Showtime).
No matter what Green has said throughout the promotion of their 12-round fight for Ward’s WBA super middleweight title, Green is far too intelligent to think he has done that already. Six straight wins against Simms (25-1-1, 11 KOs), Carlos DeLeon (21-3-2, 14 KOs), Carl Daniels (50-18-1, 32 KOs), Rubin Williams (29-10-1, 16 KOs), Sherwin Davis (18-7, 12 KOs) and Darrell Woods (26-12, 18 KOs, 1 NC) have clearly enhanced Green’s confidence following his lone loss to Edison Miranda in March 2007.
Most fight fans and media members seemingly need more evidence, however, that Green is capable of realizing the potential he displayed while building a 23-0 record prior to his unanimous decision defeat to Miranda, then 27-1 and one of the most punishing punchers in boxing. His 18-second destruction of then-unbeaten Jaidon Codrington is still etched in many minds, but the 30-year-old Green is running out of time to become a star.
Green, about a 6-1 underdog against Ward, has dismissed the Miranda defeat because he says he knows he was ill-prepared for the fight. He would’ve withdrawn from it had the 10-round middleweight match not represented his HBO debut and estimates that he entered the bout at about 30 percent of his physical capacity.
He felt ill during training for the Miranda match, his lone attempt at middleweight, and had most of his colon removed following his win against Woods four months later. Green hasn’t lost since recovering from that surgery, but his comeback from a listless performance against Miranda wasn’t enough for Showtime boxing boss Ken Hershman to include Green in the network’s unique 168-pound showcase.
It wasn’t until Taylor withdrew from the tournament following a brutal 12th-round knockout defeat to Arthur Abraham on Oct. 17 in Berlin that Hershman gave Green a shot.
Green has used the initial snub as motivation and intends to demonstrate tonight at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., just how big of a mistake his exclusion was when the tournament was constructed last year.
“I think I belonged in the tournament originally,” Green said. “As far as [Andre] Dirrell goes, I don’t think he was ready. The thing I didn’t understand was Jermain Taylor getting into the tournament. No offense against Jermain, but we fought on the same show [last April 24 at Foxwoods] and I won my fight [by second-round technical knockout against DeLeon] and he lost his fight [by 12th-round knockout against Carl Froch]. I got pushed back to ‘ShoBox’ and he got put into the tournament. That’s what I didn’t understand.”
Nevertheless, one of the central themes to this tournament has been talented, relatively unproven American contenders demonstrating their worth. Dirrell did it against Froch (26-1, 20 KOs) and Abraham (31-1, 25 KOs), while Ward earned his place as a borderline pound-for-pound performer by dominating Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler nearly seven months ago in Oakland.
Kessler (43-2, 32 KOs) has since bounced back to defeat Froch, which has made Ward’s win against him all the more impressive. Green was impressed as well, yet he contends he has the skill set to become the third American to pull off a “Super Six” upset since Nov. 21.
“Andre looked great against Kessler, but I’m not Kessler,” Green said. “Mikkel Kessler really couldn’t deal with a lot of things that Andre was doing. I’m slick guy and I’m a sharp guy. I’ll fight however my opponent wants to fight. If I have to be slick, I’ll be slick. If I have to box, I will box. If I have to brawl, I’ll brawl.
“I expect a thinking match. I can’t give my game plan. Andre is not the easiest guy to fight with his style, but I understand how to fight him because I fought a lot of those guys in the amateurs. I understand his style.”
Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) understands Green’s eagerness to disprove critics who’ve questioned his ability to win at boxing’s elite level. Even after dominating Kessler, Ward feels as though there remain many doubters who think the result of his most impressive professional performance had more to do with what was wrong with Kessler than what is right with Ward.
The humble, quiet Ward wants nothing more than to produce a second straight superb performance in his first title defense tonight. That’s the only way Ward knows to silence skeptics who trash him for being more boxer than puncher.
“If [Green] has a chip on his shoulder, then that makes two of us,” said Ward, who hasn’t lost since he was a 12-year-old amateur in 1996. “I’ve been away from my family for a long time. I’m a bit irritable. He’s desperate to win, but I want to keep my title. I don’t know if it’s now or if it’s later, but I know eventually I’m going to get respect for the dog that’s in me and for the bite-down that I have.
“It’s about going out there and taking care of my business. I expect him to have a chip on his shoulder because I definitely have one on mine. It’s just go time. At some point the talking just stops and it’s about just showing up. If Allan Green beats me I’ll take my hat off to him. I don’t make excuses. And I expect the same from him if I beat him. What I’m prepared for is a dog fight. I’m prepared for anything he’s got.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.
