Americans, part 4...
... let's talk about the Super 6 Boxing Classic. C'mon now, I thought this thing was supposed to be a breath of fresh air for boxing? As per usual, not going to be the case, if the American's have a say in it. First of all, you have Jermain Taylor getting bombed out by Arthur Abraham and then quitting. Can't really blame him, getting smashed like that by a guy from a continent that your nation always talks about as second rate would be embarrassing for anybody. Then you have Andre Dirrell travelling to the champions hometown, and trying to run, duck, dive, dodge, scream, complain his way to victory. Not going to happen, also embarrassing for Americans.
And here's where it gets a little too much. First you have Andre Ward intentionally, repeatedly, butt, low blow, foul and clinch Mikkel Kessler to a stand still, with his hometown refs and judges and doctors etc, and claim a highly questionable and controversial decision. Then you have Dirrell fouling, cheating his way into a comfortable lead in a fight, then even though Abraham has everything against him in the hometown of an American fighter, he still comes on strong and begins to beat up his opponent, only to become the victim of the biggest robbery of the past... however long I can remember. Worst acting job I have seen in boxing, yet another highly controversial fight on American soil doing massive damage to the respectability of this supposed tournament to bring back boxing.
This tournament has quickly fell from one of the highlights of the year for many a boxing fan, to just a shameless tactic by Shotime and America to try and force it's way to the top of a boxing division that they have never conquered, using any means possible. We all know that when fighting in America, "Anything is Possible", but a line has to be drawn. I knew this tournament was too good to be true. God help Ward if he has to fight somebody not on his home turf, and God help Dirrell if he gets Abraham in the semi-finals on neutral ground.