Showtime Announces Super Middleweight Tournament

News

A tournament to crown the best 168-pound boxer in the world was announced on Monday morning. Showtime will feature a round-robin tournament beginning this fall and running into 2011. The contestants in the tournament are WBA champion Mikkel Kessler, WBC champion Carl Froch, IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, and US Olympians Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell.

The tournament will feature a points-based scoring system awarding 2 points to the winner with a bonus point for a knockout. A draw is worth one point and a loss is obviously worth 0 points. The four boxers with the highest point total after three fights will advance to the semifinals of a single-elimination tournament.

The first slate of fights scheduled for later this year are as follows:

Jermain Taylor vs. Arthur Abraham
Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward
Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell

The titles of both Kessler and Froch will be on the line in their respective bouts against their respective Andre.