By James Slater: The grand final of the revolutionary idea that was The “Super Six” is soon to be upon us. It’s been one long road, with a number of postponements, pull outs and arguments, but at last, tomorrow night in Atlantic City, we will have the fight that will crown the world’s best super-middleweight boxer (although Lucian Bute would disagree!).
So far we’ve seen ten fights, fights ranging from absolute classic (Mikkel Kessler WU12 Carl Froch), highly controversial (Andre Dirrell WDQ11 Arthur Abraham) and big upset (Andre Ward WTD11 Mikkel Kessler). The best fight of the lot might just have been saved for the grand final, however!
The results so far:
Arthur Abraham KO12 Jermain Taylor.
Carl Froch WS12 Andre Dirrell.
Andre Ward WTD11 Mikkel Kessler.
Andre Dirrell WDQ11 Arthur Abraham.
Mikkel Kessler WU12 Carl Froch.
Andre Ward WU12 Allan Green (Green having stepped in to replace Taylor)
Glen Johnson KO8 Allan Green (Johnson having replaced Kessler)
Carl Froch WU12 Arthur Abraham.
Andre Ward WU12 Arthur Abraham
Carl Froch WM12 Glen Johnson.
And tomorrow’s result?
Most fans and experts see a definite distance fight tomorrow, with unbeaten, possible mega-star of the future Ward being the favourite to have his hand raised after 12 absorbing rounds. It’s tough to see Ward stopping Froch, and it’s almost as hard picturing “The Cobra” taking out “S.O.G.”
Hopefully, however, the styles of the two men will gel and this will result in a fan-friendly, exciting battle. The last thing we want is a messy, ugly fight that lacks flow (unfortunately, this scenario is entirely possible). Some questions may well be asked of both gladiators tomorrow night:
Can 27-year-old Ward, 24-0(13) dig deep if he has to? Will 34-year-old Froch, 28-1(20) have the speed to be able to keep up with Ward? Will Ward’s cut (suffered in sparring six weeks ago) prove to be a factor in the fight? Will the decision (if the fight goes as expected to the cards) prove to be controversial?
As Ward has said, there should be no excuses from Froch if he loses tomorrow, and there should be no excuses from he himself if he loses tomorrow. It doesn’t always work out the way the fighters want, though.
My pick: Ward by ultra-close, debatable decision.