Under his family's guidance, Ward trained for years with a focus on the 2004 Olympics. His discipline paid off with a gold medal and a coveted place in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Tags: Boxing
Legendary boxing writer Steve Farhood talks about the upcoming Super Six World Boxing Classic and the convergence of six of this generations most talented boxers: Andre Ward, Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Jermain Taylor, Mikkel Kessler, and Andre Dirrell. Tags: Boxing
So just who is the favorite to win Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic, the modified round-robin tournament involving six elite super middleweights that will play out over the next 18 months or so and hopefully give us a series of outstanding fights?
Do you like Mikkel Kessler, the experienced titleholder from Denmark, who has fast hands, good power and terrific skills?
How about the other titleholder in the field, England's Carl Froch, who has great heart, good power, an excellent chin and pure confidence?
Do you think either of the young American rising stars, 2004 Olympic medalists Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell, both blessed with great speed, can make up for their lack of experience with their tremendous quickness and skill?
What about former undisputed middleweight champ Jermain Taylor, who has fallen on hard times but has a tremendous resume that includes two victories over the great Bernard Hopkins?
And then there is former middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham, the knockout artist who gave up his belt to move up in weight to take a shot at the bigger guys.
I've said all along that Kessler deserves to be the favorite. However, I also look at Ward and Dirrell as having serious shots to win because of their youth, speed and ring intelligence.
Really, you can argue that any of these guys has the talent to win, although let's be honest -- it is hard to see Taylor coming all the way through. But with so many even matches, so many good storylines and so many fights that figure to be action-packed, this tournament is one of the greatest things to happen in boxing in many, many years.
The fun all starts with the first two bouts of the tournament Saturday night (Showtime, 8 ET/PT), when Froch defends his title against Dirrell in England and Abraham hosts Taylor in Germany.
Danny Sheridan, the renowned sports handicapper I used to work with when I was covering boxing for USA Today, has set the odds for each fighter in the tournament as well as the line for the Group Stage 1 bouts.
He makes Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs) and Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs) 1:1 co-favorites to win the whole shootin' match.
Sheridan lists Froch (25-0, 20 KOs) 2:1 against winning the tournament, while Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs) and Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) face 5:2 odds. It's no surprise that he lists Taylor as the biggest underdog at 10:1.
In Saturday's bouts, Abraham, according to Sheridan, is a 13:5 favorite over Taylor, and Froch is a 3:2 favorite over Dirrell. I agree with him that Abraham should beat Taylor, but I like Dirrell in the mild upset.
The third fight of Group Stage 1 pits Kessler against Ward in Ward's hometown of Oakland, Calif., on Nov. 21. Sheridan has Kessler as the 3:1 favorite.
Ward and Kessler will be watching Saturday's bouts with interest. Eventually, Kessler will have to face Froch and Taylor as the tournament progresses, and Ward will meet Taylor and Dirrell.
"Overall, of course, I'm pulling for the Americans in each bout," Ward said. "I don't think anyone has given any of the three of us much of a chance to get past the first round with a victory.
"With Jermain Taylor and Arthur Abraham stylistically, I don't think Abraham is going to put a whole lot of pressure on Taylor in the later rounds. I think Jermain has worked on his stamina problems and will be well prepared for the later rounds in this fight. I just feel like Jermain is the bigger, stronger man. If Jermain fights a disciplined fight, he should also come out of the first round with a victory."
As for the second half of Saturday's doubleheader, Ward also is picking the American.
"In the Dirrell-Froch fight, I feel that if Dirrell fights a disciplined fight and continues to do what he's been doing in the ring, but does it better because this is another level of competition, I don't see why he won't walk away with the victory," Ward said.
Kessler, who will attend Abraham-Taylor, wasn't as strong in his opinion.
"I am looking forward to seeing the Abraham-Taylor fight live in Berlin," Kessler said. "The key words of the fight are power versus intelligence as I see it -- Abraham as raw power and Taylor as the smart, intelligent fighter. Hopefully, the fight will promote the Super Six tournament as it should be promoted. That counts as well for the Froch-Dirrell fight later that night in Nottingham.
"Froch-Dirrell is experience versus the eager of youth. Froch is known for his stamina and ability to return when everything is against him. Dirrell is a super talent -- he is young, but has already proven his position in the division. He is difficult to fight because he is changing styles all the time. Again, this is a fight that is hard to predict."
When I was in New York last week for the outstanding Juan Manuel Lopez-Rogers Mtagwa fight, I had a chance to talk with former junior middleweight titlist Raul Marquez, who was one of the announcers for the pay-per-view telecast. He also happened to have faced Taylor and Abraham during his career. He fought Taylor when Taylor was on his rise to the title and was stopped by him in the ninth round of a tough fight in 2004. After that loss, Marquez went 6-0-1 in his next seven fights. Then came a sixth-round TKO loss to Abraham, who battered Marquez into retirement 11 months ago.
Marquez likes Abraham over Taylor, and you have to respect his opinion because of his own experiences with them.
"When me and Jermain fought, he was near his prime," said Marquez, who also said he thought Abraham would emerge as the tournament winner. "But that was a long time ago. He's had a lot of tough fights since then and he isn't what he used to be, especially after Kelly Pavlik knocked him out. Abraham is so strong and hasn't had those wars. I think Abraham can wear Jermain down and win it late."
Everyone has an opinion on the tournament. Let's see how it all plays out. One thing, however, is practically certain -- it's going to be a blast.
Dan Rafael is ESPN.com's boxing writer. Rafael began writing for ESPN.com in March 2005 after working for five years as the boxing writer for USA Today.
Dan Rafael
