by Mark Young: The super Six is looking forward to two very exciting fights. Love the format or hate it you cannot deny the Super Six has provided us with consistent matches that don’t seem to get made very frequently in modern day boxing. How often do you see a fighter bounce from one world class opponent to the next these days? It doesn’t happen. Take any fighter and look at their resume. It’ll have a legit opponent followed by handful of second tier opponents there to make up the numbers.

The Super Six is flawed however, aside from the fact the whole thing has taken an eternity there is also the fact so many fighters withdrew without being knocked out of the tournament legitimately. I think Jermain Taylor was right to withdraw. He was courting permanent brain injury by remaining and I hope his brutal knockout at the hands of Arthur Abraham doesn’t come back to haunt him. The dubious nature of Andre Dirrell’s withdrawal leaves a bitter taste. However, the lack of open available information regarding his alleged neurological problems and the speed at which he has now recovered has a bitter taste to it. The same can be said for Mikkel Kessler.

I believe that Dirrell used the Abraham incident as cover to withdraw from a certain loss to Andre Ward. While his heart is questionable, I believe he knows that he does not have the inside fighting skills to deal with Ward at close range and knew he would be facing a second loss in three fights, which doesn’t bode well in modern day boxing. While I believe the elusive “0” is over rated, it’s not good to have losses bunched together and that was a deciding factor in the withdrawal. I believe that Kessler did not want another drubbing at the hands of Ward and also knew that a potential rematch with Carl Froch would likely result in a loss outside of a Sauerland hosted event.

Considering the implications that pulling out of a tournament has on its credibility I am surprised Showtime have not made it compulsory to provide detailed and independent medical proof that the fighters who withdrew on medical grounds had good reason to do so, especially when you consider how quick both Kessler and Dirrell have been to return to their boxing careers, both without need of any form of surgery. Kessler seems to be better after a short rest, which is bewildering considering he allegedly had serious vision problems. Dirrell was supposedly suffering headaches and nausea, only to recover and claim he’s in line for nothing short of a title shot! His injury has never been classified has healed, which is a strange phenomenon considering the problem was never isolated and identified in the first place. Perhaps I’m being cynical but surely something as severe as brain trauma needs serious exploration and explanation, not a short rest before jumping back in the ring with the current world champion of punching people in the head.

Aside from the mysterious nature of the withdrawals we have the strange case of Ward, I’m not sure if he’s been electronically tagged and remains unable to leave Oakland but it seems ridiculous that he’s only just left his home stadium after 3 fights, one of which he didn’t even need to win because he’d been given 3 points for not fighting! Strangely, once again, Ward has managed to secure another fight in his home state where throughout the tournament he’s been allowed to get away with murder! Ward will have fought the whole thing within driving distance of his house, while Abraham and Froch have been holed up in strange hotels in countries where they don’t speak the language, something doesn’t seem quite fair there. As far as Showtime are concerned it makes sense for Ward to fight in the USA, he’s the only guy Showtime can realistically contract after the tourney has ended and I understand why Showtime seem to be protecting Ward. It’s just unpalatable that they are doing it so blatantly.

Showtime needs Ward to win. Anyone else is virtually useless to them. Froch has stated he wants only a handful of fights after the Super Six and he’ll want them to be in the UK so he can build on his fan base, where strangely he suffers a bewildering lack of publicity, but something I can see him trying to rectify after the Super Six. Johnson is older than dirt itself and isn’t a big seller for PPV’s even dressed up as a Super Six winner he’s no use to Showtime. He has too many losses to be a credible champion and no longevity anyhow. As for Abraham, he doesn’t have a hope in hell and will want to get back to Germany and pull his shorts up to his earlobes as soon as this whole thing is over, so we’re left with Ward! The Son of God, who is ironically anything but angelic! He’s a dirty unsporting fighter and not pretty to watch, so he’s still a hard sell but he’s American and an Olympic gold medal winner, so he’s the best Showtime have to work with.

I am sure Ward will be given every possible assistance on his way to the final. I’m sure ring sizes while be as Ward wishes. I’m sure lenient referees and judges will be thrown in for good measure. I’m not expecting referee Joe Cortez to get a phone call. I’m sure we haven’t seen the end of the unsporting head butting either and I doubt this will be penalised, maybe a token point removed if Ward is so far in front that it’s unlikely he’s going to lose.

I don’t think Ward needs a leg up in the tournament. He’s certainly good enough to win the super six on merit alone but it has not been fair, it’s been unsporting and it’s been blatant. The Super Six was supposed to save boxing. It was supposed to be righteous and honest, It was hailed as the blueprint for other divisions but it’s shown its flaws and has shown that it’s anything but righteous. Ward should have fought overseas; claims that a different state makes it a neutral venue are pathetic. Same flag, same language, same money, same people and same laws. It’s nothing like being in an unfriendly country where the time zones are different, where the people and customs are unfamiliar, the language strange and new, where on fight night everyone wants you to lose! Ward hasn’t had that because he’s the guy Showtime want to win their competition so the other guys have to bend to suit him.