Finalist of the competition.
Namely Froch and Ward.
Andre Ward is considered one of the best P4P fighters in the world and Froch is on some people top ten list, but have we hyped up their ability because of the Super 6?
When Calzaghe retired it left a gaping whole in the Super middle/lLight heavyweight division.
Calzaghe was a cut above the rest, he beat all his peers and when he was gone the division lacked the talent and a star to replace the great man.
I dreamt the idea of a tournament of the pretenders to the throne at super middleweight to fight it out so we could once again have a true champ.
Low and behold a couple of months later, Showtime launch their Super 6 Classic Tournament.
This in it self generated a lot of hype and boosted the fighters profiles and standing just by taking part.
Jermain Taylor: Had stamina issues and sufferer some heavy knockouts, never did anything at super middle.
Arthur Abraham: Good strong middleweight, lacking technically but had punching power at middleweight, but again did nothing at super middle.
Carl Froch: Had, beat Pascal, who wasn't considered much then for a vacant title and beat a well past best Taylor who was untested at supermiddle.
Andre Dirrel: Olympic medallist, with no real name on his record.
Andre Ward: Same as above, but at least he had a gatekeeper on his record in the form of Miranda.
Mikkel Kessler: Considered the best post Calzaghe, but he did come up well short of Joe when they fought, the only man with any real pedigree at the weight.
If the super 6 was not invented would the Ward and Froch have gotten as much credit as they do, even if they would have fought the same character?
Froch, snuck a close decision against Dirrel. Who was Dirrel people would have said.
Lost a close fight to Kessler: Froch is not quite world class as yet.
Beat Abraham convincingly: Arthur, a crude fighter, was never a super middle and his power did not follow him up.
Comfortable win over Glenn Johnson: Old man Johnson, had to cut weight at a late stage in his career, Froch did what was expected.
Ward did have the Kessler win on his record, but like I said Kessler was a level bellow Joe and Ward butted and elbow him into retirement in that fight.
But his wins over Allan Green and Arthur Abraham are nothing special, but when put in the context of the Super 6 his and Froch's wins are elevated by the public
They may be the best in the division at the moment, but are they just the best of a bad bunch?
Maybe if the heavyweight division had run the same type of tourny the Klitschkos and the division would have been seen in a better light by many.
Did the Super 6 inflate our view of the
posted on 8/7/13
Interesting post d4 the super six certainly opened up the participants to the more casual boxing fan and it elevated froch to the world stage, don't think hedge nearly as well known outside the uk if he hadn't taken part in the tournament, but he put in the performances when he had to and used the tournament to elevate himself and he deserves credit for that.
Ward was already well known in the us before the tournament but it made him more known in Europe but don't think ward needed the tournament as much as the others did. He's a quality fighter and would have gone to the top of the division without or without the super six.
It was a good tournament and I enjoyed it but it defo helped the fighters who were in it as they got huge exposure from it, other fighters didn't get the chances the super six has given to the fighters who participated in it. But IMO only froch ward and Kessler really came out of it looking good.
posted on 8/7/13
Calzaghe would outworkers Ward to a comfortable decision.
Joe had too many advantages.
posted on 8/7/13
Kessler would not have fought Ward in Oakland if not for the Super 6.
Ward was the only fighter to have all his fights in his home country.
Ward is a talented fighter, but he does get rated a lot higher than a fighter with the same standard of names.
posted on 8/7/13
Think you're selling ward a little short d4, agree Joe would have beaten him by decision but ward is a very good fighter, he's exceptional defensively which can make for some not great fights to watch but mayweater for example has made a career of fighting that way
posted on 8/7/13
I've said Ward is the best super middleweight out there at the moment and is a very good fighter, but his opposition does not put him on the levels of the other top fighters around to day.
I would rate Wlad higher P4P at the moment.
posted on 9/7/13
OP is a goof!!
Calzaghe is the biggest fraud to ever step in the ring. Ducked the best all his life. He would've been schooled by Ward, beaten by froch, KO'd by a prime RJJ and BHOP, tarver, johnson, etc
posted on 9/7/13
Rober that must be the most clueless comment I've ever seen on ja606.
posted on 9/7/13
The reason it did raise their profile though is that they constantly fight the best in their division, which can't be said for many other divisions as fighters duck fights they feel is to much risk against reward.
Without the tournament the division would've been the same as any other.. Fighters cherry picking opponents. It's precisely because that never happened that the profiles of each fighter was raised, and rightly so.
posted on 10/7/13
it made me realise how champions like the klitchko's and to a extent mayweather have had it so easy basically cherry picking their opponents over the years, the klitchko's continue to do it by fighting blown up cruiserweights and sadly you still get 50,000 people going to see them, least guys like ward and froch take on genuine challengers
posted on 10/7/13
I like Ward a lot.
Gold medalist in the olympics and apparently hasn't lost a fight since he was 12 years old. Great defence, brilliant inside fighter and has silky skills. The problem is that he has cleared up at SM and may have to go to LH to get the bigger fights, unless GGG fancies stepping up in weight. As good as Golovkin is, i would fancy Ward to beat him.
I see the bitter septic is still on his British champions hate crusade
Calzaghe is a legend. Deal with it