By Vivek Wallace – In an era of the sport driven by bright lights and ‘Benjamins’, it comes as no surprise that the latest effort to revitalize a stable, yet often troubled sport arrives in a very fashionable form. The word fashion could be no more operative, as the spectacle which now stands before us truly infuses the best of both the blue and white collar worlds. The humble, the brash, the meek, and the modern all play pivotal roles in this affair, which in and of itself gives it a wave of global appeal for all man kind. The six men standing at the forefront of this affair each enter knowing full well that there’s much at stake, and little room for error. As evidenced in the SHOWTIME 360 Fight Camp, each man comes with a will to win, but in a ‘last-man-standing’ platform, only one man can. As we set the stage for the preliminary round of this tournament, today we take a look at the men who dare to entertain an audience that has already seen it all…..
Coming to us from Berlin, Germany, by way of Armenia, is the very talented Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24KO’s); Representing the British contingent by way of Nottingham, UK, is Carl Froch (25-0, 20KO’s), and perhaps the man most odds favor to actually win the tournament, by way of Copenhagen, Denmark, is Mikkel Kessler (42-1, 32KO’s).. With three iconic figures representing their nations in the largest way, it serves as no surprise that the United States of America strike the same chord to balance the scale, led by three men who certainly arrive as no strangers to the world stage in 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist Andre Dirrell, 2004 Gold medalist Andre Ward, and 2000 Olympic Bronze medalist Jermain Taylor. When viewing the talents of each of these six men, it becomes abundantly clear from the very beginning that whichever man has his hand raised at the end of this tournament will have done so after working tirelessly to get the job done. Viewing strengths and weaknesses of these fighters, their is no clean and decisive front-runner. While both Dirrell and Froch have received the least attention, (as it relates to possibly winning it all), the amazing thing about a spectacle of this nature is that it provides both men with the opportunity to seize the moment, and effectively remove all doubt in the minds of those who fail to see the light. There are many approaches one can take to reach a conclusion of who they expect to win, but no analysis provides the concrete answers any of us look for. In example, generally, experience is seen as a determining factor, often irregardless of age, as we saw with Hopkins/Pavlik and Dawson/Johnson; but in this case, that “X”- Factor may be far less revealing, as the two most experienced men in the tournament (Taylor and Kessler – 222 rounds boxed per fighter) are seemingly headed in complete opposite career directions, while a man who falls near the bottom of that category (104 rds boxed – Andre Ward) appears to be a true ‘dark horse’.
What’s so intriguing about this tournament is the fact that the matchmaking couldn’t be any more appealing, and each and every fight identifies precisely why. Kessler brings arguably more power than anyone else in the mix, yet to win his first round fight, he’ll have to figure out a way to deliver it against a man who isn’t too easy to find, let alone hit squarely, in Andre Ward. Arthur Abraham is another fighter who brings great power, holding perhaps the best KO ratio of the all; Yet his opponent, (Jermain Taylor), is a man with his back up against the wall who knows if he can effectively comprehend and finally escape this one vice, there probably isn’t much else out there to conquer him. The young Andre Dirrell finds himself in a different type of battle…..He arrives as the least experienced of them all, (78 career rounds boxed), yet to reach his final destination, he’ll have to overcome a man who has been many places and done many things, to include scrape himself off the deck and show enough resilience to overcome the wrath of perhaps the most accomplished man in the tournament. So, every step of the way, each man has a nemesis to overcome that poses the ultimate threat, and it’s nothing that any promoter, politics, or under table profit could ever change. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth….face to face….hand to hand! SHOWTIME rarely provides us with the Tiger Woods, Sean ‘P-Diddy’ Combs type crowd, but for once, absent is the HBO ‘made-for-Hollywood’ drama, and present is the type of action that provides true reality television, unscripted, unequivocal, and ultimately, unparalleled. It isn’t everyday that us fight fans get to see such a stellar event, but every night and every fight of this tournament, you can bet your bottom dollar that you will!
Tune in Saturday night on SHOWTIME at 8pm Eastern Standard Time (Tape delayed) as this quest to be the best finally kicks off!
(Vivek Wallace can be reached at vivexemail@yahoo.com, 954-292-7346, Youtube (VIVEK1251), Twitter (VIVEK747), www.vivekwallace.com, and Facebook/Myspace)