Six Thoughts on the Super Six World Boxing Classic: Group Stage 1

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Group Stage 1 of the Super Six World Boxing Classic has come and gone, and it has grabbed the attention of the boxing world even while competing with megafights like Cotto-Pacquiao and potential superfights like Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Heralded by many as the tournament to revolutionize the sport, there was a little bit of everything boxing is known for in the three fights that made up Group Stage 1, both good and bad but mostly good: dramatic action, a brutal knockout, controversy and a big surprise.

Here are six thoughts going into Group Stage 2 in early 2010.

1. Fight until the final bell

This tournament has generated so much interest because it pits the best super middleweights in the world against one another. With so much on the line, everyone has come to win, and no one has quit in the middle of a fight, no matter how hopeless their situation.

For instance, when it became clear that Arthur Abraham was headed to a decision victory over Jermain Taylor in the opening bout, Abraham didn’t take his foot off the gas. With an extra point awarded for a knockout, Abraham dropped Taylor hard and stopped him with less than ten seconds left in the fight. The effort paid off as Abraham now stands alone in first place.

And even while being dominated for every minute of every round and bleeding badly from both eyes, Mikkel Kessler refused to stay on his stool against Andre Ward after ten punishing rounds. Kessler repeatedly told his corner he couldn’t see, but he wasn’t asking them to stop the fight so much as he was asking for legitimate advice about how to fight back.

That’s how much every fight in this tournament means.

2. Hometown advantage is immeasurable

So far, the hometown fighter has won every fight in the Super Six.

While Kessler attributes his loss to hometown officiating, it was obvious that Ward was the better fighter between the two from the opening bell. There were a lot of head butts in the fight, but Referee Jack Reiss handled them appropriately, calling them as he saw them.

Instead, Ward’s performance can be attributed to seizing the moment in the biggest fight of his career – and having the fight in his hometown of Oakland didn’t hurt either. Kessler actually fought to have neutral judges instated for the fight and got his wish. The judges even gave Kessler more rounds than he deserved, probably in an attempt to counteract any claims of home cooking.

But this tournament hasn’t been free of injustice. Andre Dirrell was, simply put, robbed against WBC Champion Carl Froch in England. Froch supporters argue that he – not Dirrell – was the aggressor in the fight. But Dirrell was the one hitting and not being hit for nine of the twelve rounds.

These two fights bring up another point.

3. The Andres can fight

Coming into the tournament, the biggest question mark was how Ward and Dirrell would fare in their first big step up in competition. The verdict is in. They have passed with flying colors.

Ward flat out dominated tournament favorite Kessler and now appears one of the favorites to win himself. Likewise, Dirrell looked almost as spectacular against Froch, deserving to win the fight, but not doing it convincingly enough that the judges couldn’t take it away from him on a split decision.

Ward’s performance against Kessler also taught another lesson about the tournament.

4. There’s no such thing as a favorite

On paper, there’s almost always a favorite for every fight. This isn’t so much the case in the Super Six. When fighters this good are thrown together in a tournament style, anything can happen because boxing is still very much about styles against styles.

Kessler was the favorite coming in based on his experience and the fact that he fought the last Super Middleweight Champion Joe Calzaghe close. Yet Ward surprised most experts by utilizing superior hand speed and hard power shots to wear him down.

Abraham sits as the points leader now and may be the new favorite to win, but he has shown that he is susceptible to being outboxed. He next has to go through perhaps the slickest fighter in the tournament in Dirrell, who knows he needs to do more than he did against Froch to take fights out of the judges’ hands.

5. Knocked out today, title shot tomorrow

Because two of the fighters in the Super Six brought belts into the tournament, there is a world of opportunity in Group Stage 2 for two guys who probably wouldn’t be so lucky were their next fights not already scheduled on paper months ago.

Taylor has lost three of his last four fights and was knocked out cold by Abraham last time out. But because Ward upset Kessler for the WBA title, Taylor now gets a title shot in his very next fight.

The same goes for Kessler, who lost his WBA title to Ward in lopsided fashion but is now in a position to win the WBC title off of Froch next time out.

These two title opportunities hammer home the sixth and final point.

6. Nobody is out of this thing yet

For the three men who lost in Group Stage 1, all is not lost. Currently sitting with zero points, Taylor, Dirrell and Kessler all have a chance to bounce back not only into contention but even to tie for the lead with Abraham should they score knockouts in their next fights.

No one was more thoroughly dominated than Kessler in the first round, yet he’s far from out at this point. In fact, he’s probably still the second or third favorite to win the whole thing. Kessler’s next fight is a favorable match-up against the easiest fighter to hit in the tournament, Froch. If Kessler scores a knockout, he’s right back near the top of the pile.

Group Stage 2 should be just as fascinating as Stage 1, perhaps more so as fighters become more desperate to grab vital points and stay alive. This time next year, the tournament will be down to four fighters.

2010 can’t get here soon enough.