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By Jeff Meyers: On Saturday, May 14, a semifinal matchup of the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic—the groundbreaking, six-fighter tournament from SHOWTIME Sports that showcases the class of the super middleweight (168-pound) division from around the world—takes place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Competing for this year’s Classic Cup in Saturday’s semifinal matchup are WBA super middleweight champion Andre “S.O.G.” (Son of God) Ward (23-0-0, 13 KOs), who hails from Oakland, California, and Arthur “King Arthur” Abraham (32-2-0, 26 KOs), the heavy-handed Armenian fighter who now resides in Berlin, Germany. Eastside Boxing will be covering the bout live from the Home Depot Center.
The Super Six tourney has more than lived up to expectations, with plenty of unexpected results and spectacular performances. Many believed Mikkel (rhymes with nickel) “The Viking Warrior” Kessler (43-2-0, 32 KOs) would emerge as victor of this year’s Cup. But Andre Ward dashed the Danish slugger’s hopes back in November 2009, defeating Kessler in a fantastic performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Ward snatched Kessler’s WBA super middleweight strap after officials stopped the bout in the eleventh round courtesy of Ward’s slick (albeit ugly) searing punches to both of Kessler’s eyes that left Kessler bruised, bloody and bewildered..
As for Arthur Abraham, the tough-as-nails fighter has disappointed fans who thought King Arthur would excel in this year’s inaugural tourney. Abraham was disqualified against American fighter Andre “The Matrix” Dirrell (19-1-0, 13 KOs) in the eleventh round of a fight Abraham was losing on all three referees’ scorecards after Abraham hit Ward while he was down and knocked Ward out. Subsequently, Arthur was beaten like a gong by British fighter Carl “The Cobra” Froch (rhymes with crotch) (27-1-0, 20 KOs) six months ago in the Super Six tournament. Froch discouraged Arthur with a brilliant jab all evening, winning the vacant WBC super middleweight title in a unanimous decision.
This Saturday’s semi-final matchup between Ward and Abraham has repeat of Ward v. Kessler written all over it. Andre Ward has stepped up every time he advances to a higher level of competition in this tourney. Ward’s superior hand speed and technique are likely to befuddle Abraham—a notoriously slow starter—the same way Ward frustrated Kessler and the same way Froch dispatched of Abraham. Unless King Arthur gets lucky with a late knockdown Ward will cruise to an easy decision or perhaps even a late-round stoppage.
Two intriguing heavyweight bouts on the undercard to the Ward-Abraham fight are worth noting. The first is a matchup between Riverside, California native Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (30-2-0, 26 KOs) and East Coast native (born in the Dominican Republic) Nagy “Dominican Dynamite” Arreola (14-5-0, 11 KOs). Arreola was, at one time, considered to be America’s best chance to acquire one of the four heavyweight championship belts (WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF) currently held by Vitali Klitschko (WBC), Vitali’s younger brother Wladimir Klitschko (IBF and WBO) and Brit David Haye (WBA). Then Arreola got systematically pounded for twelve straight rounds by Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and showed up for subsequent bouts at weights ranging from 249 lbs. to 263 lbs., losing to Polish upstart Tomasz Adamek in the process. Arreola cannot afford any more bouts where his actions fail to comport with pre-fight words. Arreola has admitted to being out-of-shape for recent bouts and acknowledged the need to increase his conditioning, yet failed to deliver on his promises to be in better cardio shape. It will be interesting to see how Arreola fares this time around.
The second bout of note is between Central Californian Manuel Quezada (29-6-0, 18 KOs) and former Aussie native Bowie Tupou (20-1-0, 15 KOs). Quezada’s last fight was against Chris Arreola, where he lost a unanimous decision and survived ninth and twelfth-round knockdowns. Minus the points for knockdowns, the match was competitive; Quezada also boasts a first round knockout of former heavyweight Gold Glove champion Travis “Freight Train” Walker (35-6-1, 28 KOs). Tupou’s previous press hype (Ring Magazine once dubbed Tupou as a potential future heavyweight champion) and dominating KO victories caused many to predict Tupou as the second coming of another Polynesian pounder, i.e., David Tua. Not so much. Bowie’s balloon of hope was seemingly deflated by journeyman Demetrice “Only by K.O.” King (15-20-0, 13 KOs) back in August 2009 when King floored the hulking Samoa-born-and-bred Tupou in two rounds. Tupou has rebounded, winning his last two bouts, but his mettle will certainly be tried by the more battle-tested and experienced Quezada.
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