By Vitali Shaposhnikov: Super Six is shattering into pieces as I am writing, and you are reading this line. It’s as if it was never meant to see the finish line. So much hype and hope for a solid and deserving middleweight champion has been invested into this event that its current disappointing notices about fighters not being able to go through, is mind simply blowing. One after the other they slowly drop this utopic dream, leaving the fans without an answer they have all been waiting for. First Jermain Taylor, followed by Mikkell Kessler, and now Andre Dirrell is fleeing the scene.
While I am disappointed, I’m also sure these fighters have a good reason for leaving the mix. We have heard that Dirrell seems to be displaying some neurological symptoms, and decided to follow doctor’s recommendation of leaving the action alone for a while. I can only imagine how much blame Arthur Abraham is in for, since it was Arthur who fought Dirrell last. The ending to their bout was also peculiar and open to accusations, but now it seems almost irrelevant.
So where do we go now? Recently Glen Johnson has been added to replace Mikkell Kessler, and Alan Green is fighting in place of Jermain Taylor. Next step will be finding someone who would step in for the remainder of the fight in place of Andre Dirrell. I am confident that the Super Six will go on with the new replacements, but will the winner represent a true champion?
The whole point of the Super Six was to throw the best in the mix, and see who comes out on top. Now, many of the “best” are out of the tournament, and have been replaced. While I give all due respect to the replacement fighters, there was a reason that they were not included in the tourney in the first place. So it seems to me, that the strength and the true reason of the Super Six have been altered. The winner will be crowned the best of the Super Six, but can no longer be named the best in the middleweight division. This is of course not something that I am rooting for, this is just something that came with the changes. On the other hand we all know Glen Johnson and his incredible effort and determination. So was he a better fit for the tournament instead of some other chosen names? I don’t know. What do you think? Who do you think is a good boxer to replace Andre Dirrell?