Seeding The Super Six: A Look at The Third Stage

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When the “Super Six” World Boxing Classic was announced in the Super Middleweight division in the summer of 2009, this scribe predicted one thing: everyone was going to lose. Through two rounds, six of the seven (“Super Six” plus one if you will) combatants have done just that. Only Oakland’s Andre Ward has avoided the fate.

There are still potentially three fights to go for Ward, or anyone else, who makes it to and through the tournament final. Time will tell if ‘everyone’ winds up being ‘all but one.’

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What might have been missed as Ward became the first fighter to qualify for the tournament’s semi-finals is this: Ward can be the only fighter to go undefeated in the three rounds of preliminaries and still not end up the number one seed in the elimination brackets.

If Ward were to lose outright, despite current perceptions of the American as the tournament leader, all of the men below him with points already on the board could find their way into the number one spot. BoxingScene’s David Greisman assessed round three as “win and you’re in” on Monday.

But where?

With time sure to fly heading into Group Stage Three of this fascinating, and thus far successful, experiment, that is a question of multiple intrigues. The stakes, in terms of seeding, could be high as the location of the fights, and the 6-0 home field advantage so far, have increasingly become discussion and negotiating points in the tournament.

In addressing these issues, let’s begin with the current tournament leader and his planned next outing.

Andre Ward
Age: 26
Title: WBA Super Middleweight (2009-Present, 1 Defense)
Height: 6’1
Hails from: Oakland, California
Record: 22-0, 13 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 2-0
Super Six Stats: 2-0, 2 UD, 4 Points
BoxingScene Rank: #1
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 1 (Mikkel Kessler)

Vs.

Andre Dirrell
Age: 26
Title: None
Previous Titles: None
Height: 6’2
Hails from: Flint, Michigan
Record: 19-1, 13 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 0-1
Super Six Stats: 1-1, 1 WDQ, 2 Points
BoxingScene Rank: #5
Current/Former World Champions Defeated: 1 (Arthur Abraham)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 1 (Carl Froch)

So how can Ward go without a loss in the round-robin portion of the competition and end up without the number one seed? It’s simple really. Ward can kiss his sister.

Sports fans are familiar with the old adage that a tie is like kissing one’s sister. If Ward-Dirrell is all even after twelve, and Arthur Abraham stops Carl Froch, Abraham will enter the semi-finals as the tournament’s number one seed. Ward, at 2-0-1, will have five points. Abraham would have six.

Dirrell has his own points to worry about. With a victory, he advances; anyone with two wins is advancing. If he and Ward draw, Dirrell’s fate would likely be determined by the Froch-Abraham winner as a Froch win would give Dirrell a tiebreaker over Abraham.

Can there be more? There can.

While it is not the likeliest scenario, a Dirrell stoppage victory over Ward would give him 5 points and his own shot at the number one seed.

Even more, if a Dirrell win by stoppage were combined with stoppages by Kessler and the Froch-Abraham winner, Ward could end up going from the tournament leader to the number four seed in the semi-finals.

Mikkel Kessler
Age: 31
Title: WBC Super Middleweight (2010-Present)
Previous Titles: WBA Super Middleweight (2004-06, 3 Defenses); WBA/WBC (2006-07, 1 Defense); WBA Super Middleweight (2008-2009, 2 Defenses)
Height: 6’1
Hails from: Copenhagen, Denmark
Record: 43-2, 32 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 9-2, 6 KO
Super Six Stats: 1-1, 1 WUD, 2 Points
BoxingScene Rank: #3
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 7 (Dingaan Thobela, Julio Cesar Green, Manny Siaca, Anthony Mundine, Eric Lucas, Markus Beyer, Carl Froch)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 2 (Joe Calzaghe, Andre Ward)

Vs.

Allan Green
Age: 30
Titles: None
Height: 6’2
Hails from: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Record: 29-2, 20 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 0-1
Super Six Stats: 0-1, 0 Points
BoxingScene Rank: #10
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 2 (Ola Afolabi, Carl Daniels)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 1 (Andre Ward)

Green is the only participant with no mathematical chance at the top seed. After an abysmal performance that even Green and his team have called embarrassing, the chances for the tournament’s bench player (entering for the departed Jermain Taylor after round one) to advance couldn’t be much dimmer. They do though still exist. A Green knockout would push him past Kessler not only in the ring but in the standings. If Ward defeats Dirrell or Abraham beats Froch, Green is a semi-finalist at the number four seed.

If he wins by decision, Green takes a belt with him and can call Lucian Bute to see what’s poppin’.

Kessler is at a win and he’s in point but, with the right kind of win, he can also end up ahead of the man who defeated him in round one of the tournament. If Dirrell defeats Ward by decision, a Kessler win by KO leaves the Dane with no less than the number two seed and maybe even number one at five points. A draw with Green and he’s in easy with an Abraham or Ward win in their fights.

Arthur Abraham
Age: 30
Current Title: None
Previous Titles: IBF Middleweight (2005-09, 10 Defenses)
Height: 5’10
Hails from: Berlin, Germany (Born in Armenia)
Record: 31-1, 25 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 11-0, 7 KO
Super Six Stats: 1-1, 1 WKO, 3 Points
BoxingScene Rank: #6
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 3 (Hector Javier Velazco, Raul Marquez, Jermain Taylor)

Vs.

Carl Froch
Age: 32
Titles: None
Previous Titles: WBC Super Middleweight (2008-09, 2 Defenses)
Height: 6’1
Hails from: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
Record: 26-1, 20 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 3-1, 1 KO
Super Six Stats: 1-1, 1 WSD, 2 Points
BoxingScene Rank: #4
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 3 (Robin Reid, Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor)

Current/Former World Champions/Titlist Faced in Defeat: 1 (Mikkel Kessler)
Is this fight going to come off? The haggling over location continues but for the sake of sanity, resolution is the assumption. Both men are at a win and they are in point and Abraham, who has scored the tournament’s only knockout winner thus far, is in strong position to advance even with a loss. With a win by knockout over Froch, Abraham is no less than the number two seed.

If Kessler beats Green and both Froch and Dirrell lose, Froch advances on head-to head tiebreakers over Dirrell. If Abraham loses and Ward-Dirrell is a draw, Dirrell advances on the same.

Logically, the most attractive semi-final matchmaking would see fresh matches all around. Tiebreakers based on official scorecard rounds won might not end up there. The matches the “Super Six” won’t have produced by the end of round three are:

• Ward-Abraham
• Ward-Froch
• Abraham-Green
• Abraham-Kessler
• Dirrell-Green
• Dirrell-Kessler
• Froch-Green

Despite all of these, it could just as easily be a pair of rematches in the semis and another in the finals. That’s part of the fun of the ‘Super Six.” The possibilities are not endless.

But they are close enough to keep one from ever getting bored. Round three is on the clock and soon two more men will join Jermain Taylor on the sidelines. Then two more, then another until only one remains and the “Super Six” is behind us.

It will be missed when it’s over.

Weekly Ledger

But wait, there’s more…

Husanov Goes Blood and Guts: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=28632
Ward Wins: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=28654
Ward Gets Graded: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=28670
Picks of the Week: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=28709

Cliff’s Notes…will return next week.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com

Comments

MotofanSun Jun 27, 2010, 1:56 AM UTC

That has to be the best fight left in this comp. Its gonna be great. I agree, but its between two guys who have no chance of winning the whole thing. That is why Im let down. The winner of the whole Super 6 will be a very boring fighter who wins in a very boring fight. The whole thing will end in a boring whimper rather then a bang. That and I think some of the judging has ruined it for me. This thing had so much hype, and has literally had only one entertaining fight so far.

cleaner147Sun Jun 27, 2010, 1:47 AM UTC

also both newcomers were very inactive before they were inked. Kess and USS are well known in Germany...

cleaner147Sun Jun 27, 2010, 1:42 AM UTC

Divisions I would like to see this applied to are 140, 154, and 126. but u know 200 will be next in line...Team Sauerland is the main factor these kinds of tourneys are happening. Sauerland praises his 200 pounders, they say they have got the 3 best CWs in the world (Huck). Cunnigham was inked. Super6 is something that should have sent King Arthur Abraham to international stardom (fights in the US), also the middleweightdivision was dead (no fight w/ Sturm, promotional situation and no fight w/ Pavlik, he clearly ducked him. Kessler was inked.

Iceta_LivesSun Jun 27, 2010, 1:29 AM UTC

Divisions I would like to see this applied to are 140, 154, and 126.

LorilySun Jun 27, 2010, 1:18 AM UTC

Isn't that what he did against Andrade? Yea, well he used some movement against Andrade (I need to rewatch that fight again to see for sure) but when I think of stick and moving all night, I'm thinking more on the lines of movement like Dirrell or FMJ, they hit or jab and get out and they know how to use the entire ring effectively and can fight going backwards very well. That's what I meant by not really Kesslers style. He's more of one to get in there and brawl and even though he uses some movement, it isn't comparable to what Andre and Floyd do in the ring. I think Kessler should know now, after facing (and losing to) Ward and also seeing that Green was doin the majority of the crafty holding in the Ward/Green fight (IMO), that Greens probably gonna want to make this a tough "in" fight. Kessler would do better for himself if he adopted Dirrell or FMJ style of movement for all 12 rounds and avoid engaging in brawl type of exchanges, because that's what Greens gonna need to do in order to have a chance of pullin off a K.O. Greens going to be fighting with some sense of desperation because he has to knock Kessler out just to get a chance of moving up to the semi finals. At the same time, Green (should) knows he needs to beat Kessler impresively or this could be the end of "Sweetness"s chances at anything big at the elite level. He has already made a joke of himself (in my opinion) in his one showing in this tournament. Even if he doesn't get the knock out, he still needs to win and do it in an impressive fashion if he want's to be taken seriously by any future fight prospects after the tourney.

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