ESPN: Super Six Classic dealt another blow

[led]

Super Six Classic dealt another blow
BY DAN RAFAEL

The Super Six World Boxing Classic, already teetering on the brink of falling apart, took another big hit when Carl Froch, citing a back injury, withdrew from a scheduled Oct. 2 fight in Monte Carlo against Arthur Abraham.

"We were informed [Monday] morning of a back injury that prohibits him to fight on Oct. 2, but that would allow him a fight about seven or eight weeks later," Chris Meyer of Sauerland Event, Abraham's promoter, told ESPN.com.

There is no new date set for the fight, however. Sauerland Event and Froch promoter Mick Hennessy need to huddle with Showtime as well as with their European broadcast partners to figure out a new date.

"Froch claims he has a back injury and the promoters are talking to [Showtime's] Ken [Hershman] about a new date," Showtime spokesman Chris DeBlasio told ESPN.com.

Froch's withdrawal is the latest issue that threatens to derail the Showtime-bankrolled six-man tournament that features a collection of the top super middleweights in the world.

Hailed by fans and media around the world as an innovative and exciting concept when it was announced 14 months ago, it has been coming apart in recent weeks.

Previous postponements, injuries and the withdrawal of Jermain Taylor after his first fight of the tournament have been overcome. But now the issues are mounting.

Titleholder Mikkel Kessler withdrew from the tournament on Aug. 25 because of an eye injury.

When Kessler dropped out, his Group Stage 3 bout with Allan Green was canceled, leaving the status of the two other Group Stage 3 bouts -- Froch-Abraham and titlist Andre Ward against 2004 U.S. Olympic teammate Andre Dirrell -- uncertain.

Group Stage 3 was supposed to complete the round robin portion of the tournament with the four fighters with the most points through their first three bouts moving on to the semifinals. Fighters are awarded three points for a knockout win, two points for a win and one point for a draw.

Ward had already locked up a spot in the semifinals, but the remaining three slots would have been determined in the Group Stage 3 bouts. However, with Kessler out, Showtime was working on a scenario in which it would simply eliminate Group Stage 3 and make Froch-Abraham and Ward-Dirrell the semifinals, since those four fighters had the highest point totals of those remaining in the field.

Green, the replacement for Taylor, who dropped out after a bad knockout loss to Abraham in Group Stage 1, had no points after inheriting Taylor's total and losing his only fight in lopsided fashion to Ward.

Besides the problem with Kessler, Showtime also is dealing with a messy situation surrounding Ward's defense against Dirrell.

Despite continuing to advertise the fight for Sept. 25, which Showtime did again during its "ShoBox" telecast on Friday night, the fight is not happening, at least on that date.

With the fight only two weeks away, nothing remotely associated with promoting a fight has happened. The promoters have not secured a site, there are no tickets on sale and there has not been a news conference. More important -- neither fighter is in serious training.

Ward promoter Dan Goossen and Dirrell promoter Gary Shaw refuse to discuss the issues. However, Showtime has continued to press for the fight and last week threatened Goossen and Shaw with legal action if it's called off.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5567574

[Grimmer]

It's dead in the water. I just don't see Ward and Dirrell fighting each other, I think they'll go different ways for a couple of years and maybe meet when there's more money on the table.

[led]

tsk tsk tsk... i love super 6

[shogunn]

this is why boxing is suffering. They cant even finish a simple tournament

At least they tried

[V.WEBB]

This stinks. For real. I loved this whole tourney deal.

[Baracka Flocka]

This is just bad luck, which is unfortunate.

As messed up as it is, if the UFC held a Super Six Tournament it wouldn't have these issues for sure.


They should have planned it a little better with more hypothetical situations and back ups to prevent this issues.

Especially on the issue of fight venue. All scenarios should have been presented to each fighter and agreed upon before anyone agreed signed on for the tournament.


Had this went off without a hitch it would have been excellent for the sport of boxing.

[Pin Galarga]

I knew this tournament wasn't going to fly, but it was a great ride while we had it.
You never see tournament that include Champions because there's to much factors to deal with.
They did better than I expected.

[led]

this is why boxing is suffering. They cant even finish a simple tournament

At least they tried

This is just bad luck, which is unfortunate.

As messed up as it is, if the UFC held a Super Six Tournament it wouldn't have these issues for sure.


They should have planned it a little better with more hypothetical situations and back ups to prevent this issues.

Especially on the issue of fight venue. All scenarios should have been presented to each fighter and agreed upon before anyone agreed signed on for the tournament.


Had this went off without a hitch it would have been excellent for the sport of boxing.

am sorry, but i dont think its not that simple. anyway, this is learning experience though for future tournament. i just wish they would cut a tourney to 1 1/2 or 2 years at most. and at least in three stages like: elimination, semi then final.

[Baracka Flocka]

am sorry, but i dont think its not that simple. anyway, this is learning experience though for future tournament. i just wish they would cut a tourney to 1 1/2 or 2 years at most. and at least in three stages like: elimination, semi then final.

1 1/2- 2 years in its self is too much of a commitment for that long during a career, too many intangible factors come into play when that is the case. On top of the fact that it narrows the options of fighters far too much. Imagine is Bute has to go 2 years without fighting any of the 6-7 contestants involved in the tournament.

If fighters fought a little more frequently nowadays it could possibly come off. However that isn't the reality of boxing in the 21st century.

[adrian16]

This thing is falling apart which is understable since this is the 1st time such tournament exist, i hope in the future similiar events would be executed better learning from previous experience.