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Are they really the best thing for the sport, because I'm not so sure it is. In case you have been in the dark, Showtime has been a proud supporter of the system and took the risk by doing it in one of the brightest divisions. With the recent success they are considering it for other divisions(crusierweight and bantam) and even HBO has entertained the idea with the JWW division. Now on the outside you might say, "this is the greatest idea ever", we get to see exciting fights, build fighters resumes early, and get a true number one fighter but that isn't completely true. If the "Super Six" format becomes the norm, the sport may suffer.
One thing that has been the routine for great fighters is building a resume. You know the routine, go through the am's, maybe the olympics, start soft, then the gatekeepers and then fight the champions, but the Super Six would deter fighters getting to that last step. The "Super Six" is built around fighters that have established themselves at a high level(only way to have high profile fights), so how is a young fighter supposed to "shake up the world" if they can't get a high profile fight? A young and upcoming fighter would be held back from really establishing himself as a great fighter at a young age and would almost always have to wait till he was deemed by the public as the "real deal".
Another thing about the "Super Six" that is questionable is the length of the tourney. It takes over two years to run its course and a lot of things happen in two years. Fighters have dips, fighters become shot, and other fighters in the meantime can string together a lot of wins and be looked at as the best but due to the format they are not willing to prove themselves and in return hurts their resume immensely. Take for example Lucian Bute. Bute right now could be looked at as one of the best fighters but due to the tourney he is stuck fighting less than stellar opponents. Sure, one could say he is the best simply because of the way he wins his fights but if you are like me, you like to judge fighters against the best in the world and if Bute isn't fighting them, I can't rate him. It may be unfair to Bute but that just is the way it is and that is why I can't support this format.
What I'd rather see is a 4 man tourney. Have the two winners face off and then the winner fights either a rising fighter, the loser of the 3rd place fight, or a rematch of a close fight in the bracket(all of this depending on the circumstances of course). This would be much quicker, still give you big time fights, and wouldn't keep fighters in the dark.
One thing that has been the routine for great fighters is building a resume. You know the routine, go through the am's, maybe the olympics, start soft, then the gatekeepers and then fight the champions, but the Super Six would deter fighters getting to that last step. The "Super Six" is built around fighters that have established themselves at a high level(only way to have high profile fights), so how is a young fighter supposed to "shake up the world" if they can't get a high profile fight? A young and upcoming fighter would be held back from really establishing himself as a great fighter at a young age and would almost always have to wait till he was deemed by the public as the "real deal".
Another thing about the "Super Six" that is questionable is the length of the tourney. It takes over two years to run its course and a lot of things happen in two years. Fighters have dips, fighters become shot, and other fighters in the meantime can string together a lot of wins and be looked at as the best but due to the format they are not willing to prove themselves and in return hurts their resume immensely. Take for example Lucian Bute. Bute right now could be looked at as one of the best fighters but due to the tourney he is stuck fighting less than stellar opponents. Sure, one could say he is the best simply because of the way he wins his fights but if you are like me, you like to judge fighters against the best in the world and if Bute isn't fighting them, I can't rate him. It may be unfair to Bute but that just is the way it is and that is why I can't support this format.
What I'd rather see is a 4 man tourney. Have the two winners face off and then the winner fights either a rising fighter, the loser of the 3rd place fight, or a rematch of a close fight in the bracket(all of this depending on the circumstances of course). This would be much quicker, still give you big time fights, and wouldn't keep fighters in the dark.
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