Super Six World Boxing Classic Sets Double-Header for Nov. 27

Added on Sep 27, 2010 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

Back when fans first learned of the planning stages of Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic it was received with a mix of excitement regarding the unprecedented event as well as a dose of skepticism as to how an event of this magnitude would fare with so many potential issues that could foil the tournament altogether.

The doubt would quickly subside once the first stage kicked off without so much as a hiccup. Yet, in time, as with anything with this many working components things would start to crack.

After a couple of withdrawals from the tournament and venue issues seemingly put to rest, it appears that everything is now back on track as Showtime announced a November 27 split-site double header featuring Andre Ward as he defends against Andre Dirrell in addition to former champions Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham doing battle in Helsinki, Finland.

A venue for the all-American matchup between WBA super middleweight (168 lbs.) Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell should be named in the very near future as both Goossen-Tutor and Gary Shaw, the respective promoters have had more than enough time to figure it out. The fight had actually been scheduled to take place on a previous date but location issues prevented it from coming to fruition.

With Mikkel Kessler being forced out of the tourney to recover from a long suffering eye injury, his recently vacated WBC title will be on the line as Ward defends his WBA strap against Dirrell.

Oakland’s own Andre Ward wasn’t one of the favorites going in to the tournament but quickly changed the public perception regarding his shot at winning with a 11th round technical decision win over then champion Mikkel Kessler. Wards blinding speed was enough to keep the highly regarded Kessler from establishing any sort of rhythm. With the lopsided unanimous decision win Ward not only claimed his first world championship but put the boxing world on notice that he’s a force to be reckoned with.

Stage two of the tourney pitted Ward against Taylor’s replacement in the hard-hitting Allan “Sweetness” Green. Ward demonstrated why he was the odds on favorite as he easily kept Green at bay and made him look pedestrian as Ward pitched a 12 round shutout on all three judge’s scorecards.

In Dirrell, Ward not only takes on a fellow highly skilled American fighter but a close friend as well. Dirrell, much like Ward, entered the tournament with very little expectation to win. His opening stage matchup ended with a touch of controversy when he came up short on the scorecards in his WBC world title bid against Nottingham’s Carl Froch. Many observers felt that Dirrell had done enough throughout the fight to get the win as opposed to the split decision loss that he ultimately suffered.

Dirrell bounced back in a major way in the second stage as he shocked the favored former middleweight champion Arthur Abraham with an eleventh round win after Abraham was disqualified by Texas based referee Laurence Cole for hitting Dirrell while he was already on the canvas. Dirrell was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage. The upset victory placed Dirrell directly alongside Ward in terms of American fighters capable of winning the tournament.

Going into his upcoming bout with Abraham at Hartwall Arena in Finland, Carl “The Cobra” Froch officially holds a tournament record of 1-1 after the first two stages. As previously mentioned, he took a debated and very close decision over Detroit’s Andre “The Matrix” Dirrell. He faltered in round two as he put his WBC crown on the line against Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler. Kessler’s higher workrate propelled him to a unanimous decision victory as he handed Froch the first loss of his professional career.

“King” Arthur Abraham is in the exact same position of getting his first taste of defeat in his last fight. In the first round Abraham found himself trailing on the scorecards against former World Middleweight Champion Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor of Little Rock. With a mere six seconds left in the fight Abraham landed a crushing straight right which essentially knocked Taylor out of the fight and ultimately out of the tournament.

Stage three of the World Boxing classic will mark the conclusion of the round-robin portion of the tournament and will the fighters who will continue on to the single-elimination semi finals. Thus far, only Ward has secured his spot in the semis. With both titles and berths into the next round at stake, fighters will expectedly be coming with everything imaginable.

Executive Vice President and General Manager for sports programming of Showtime, Ken Hershman said, “We have asked these fighters to challenge themselves against the best fighters in the world; not in one mega-fight, but in a consecutive series of career defining fights. Injuries and delays are inevitable. However, each one of them has accepted the challenge and brought a level of intensity to the ring that, in my estimation, is unmatched in all of sports.”

“We are still on pace to complete the tournament in 2011, at which time we will have delivered to boxing fans around the world a number of the most compelling and meaningful matches in the sport.

“So, the drama continues with all the fighters still alive heading to Group Stage 3. I couldn’t have scripted this any better.”