So far we have had 4 fights in Super Six, and each fight has been won by the boxer with the "home advantage".
First we had Froch-Dirrell, and many thought that Dirrell deserved to win the decision over Froch.
Next we had Abraham-Taylor, and while Abraham won decisively, Taylor was warned several times by the referee which may or may not have taken the play away from him somewhat. This didn't factor in against Taylor, who wouldn't have won anyway, but it may have against Dirrell.
In the third fight of the tournament, we saw Ward outbox and rough up Kessler, but headbutting and fouling was involved, which likely wouldn't have been allowed to go on in Denmark where the officials are stricter.
Last Saturday, we again have had a controversial outcome, with Abraham being DQ'd for a late punch against Dirrell. I won't say that it wasn't the correct decision, but the referee did seem to miss knockdowns and low punches. Had the fight been in Germany, Abraham's home country, it may have gone entirely different. Perhaps Dirrell would have been forced to fight on?
A month from now we'll see Kessler fight Froch in Denmark and Froch expects that he will only win by a knockout, knowing that he's probably not going to win it on the cards against the "hometown" fighter.
How much of a factor has the "home advantage" been in the Super Six tournament?
Ideally, all fights would be on neutral grounds but this is not a possibility because Europe vs USA is one of the drawing cards of the tournament.
I really don't think Dirrell enjoyed a hometown decision. It's too bad it looks that way. He took advantage of the system, like every fighter does when they get hit on the ground.
Abraham and Kessler were both outclassed by the better fighters period. I just don't see it any different.
Hometown is a big advantage. The tournament has proved that so far. It's not only he officiating but also to timezones and different surroundings that come into play.
But in saying that we must acknowledge that we have so far only seen extreme hometown advantages in the sense that one of the fighters has had to cross the atlantic. The next 2 fights could prove different as there's no significant geographical and timezones differences. (Ward-Green and Kessler-Froch).
Yeh, the hometown fighter gets a bit of a break off the ref, what else is new.
Yeah Laurence Cole was acting a bit weird, but Dirrell was whooping AA anyways....
I was thinking this.
As great as the tournament is, and the buzz it has created is pretty good for boxing fans, the judging, or refereeing has been quite poor.
There's bias everywhere.
Home advantage is obviously a big one going by the results so far.
The decision last night was definitely the right one. That was a clear punch when Dirrell was down. If Dirrell had been made to continue after that or disqualified if the fight was in Germany - there would have been an absolute outcry.
The Ward - Kessler fight disturbs me more. I have never seen someone head butt someone 5 times and not get a warning. That shit was absolutely disgraceful.
Dirrell - Froch would have gone to whoever was on home turf by a few points/SD so yer Froch got lucky with that one.
Hopefully Froch gets the KO against Kessler... I think he's horrendously underrated.