Carl Froch fights Mikkel Kessler in Denmark on Saturday in the second round of the "Super Six Boxing Classic". I'll come to my opinion on this competition shortly but first of all, the fight itself. The Cobra will probably start as favourite, certainly amongst British boxing fans, who will remember Kessler as the man who Joe Calzaghe outpointed in 2007 to unify the Super Middleweight division. He was comfortably beaten - despite warnings that he was a potentially dangerous opponent, he came up against a very in-form Welshman in front of 50,000 of his home supporters.
But this fight will be different - it's a homer for Kessler for starters. Froch has only fought outside of England twice before, one of those the last ditch comeback against Jermain Taylor last year. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to a potentially hostile crowd, especially as a lot of the pre-match talk has been of Froch's fitness and of the volcanic ash, which has led to complications in him actually arriving in Denmark. Froch wanted the fight postponed - not exactly the sound of a confident man! If he can get through the early rounds unscathed, then he should go on and win the fight as I feel he has more in the tank than Kessler but he will need to keep his wits about him for all 12 rounds if he is to impress the judges.
So now to the competition. From a boxing perspective, I cannot see the point in tying six men to a series over three years, whereby they are not free to fight anybody outwith this group. I like the idea of something like Prizefighter, an entertaining evening whereby young boxers and veterans (those without much chance of a title shot basically) test their mettle over the course of 4 rounds, with quarter-finals, semis and the final. It's just one night, not three years. If you want to have a competition with multiple boxers, this must be the format that is adopted. The WBA and WBC super middleweight belts are currently held by two amongst these "Super Six", with the presumption that they will change hands several times throughout the competition. This format cheapens these world titles, plain and simple. A league table with 3 points for a KO, 2 for a win, 1 for a draw does not really do justice to the sport of boxing - it strikes me as a dumbing down of the sport, akin to employing dancing girls in Twenty20 cricket - it's a ploy to get more bums on seats.
I hate to sound like a purist, but boxing is a very traditional sport - it would be a shame to abandon these traditions in order to appeal to audience who do not truly understand what a fine sport it is.
RM
But this fight will be different - it's a homer for Kessler for starters. Froch has only fought outside of England twice before, one of those the last ditch comeback against Jermain Taylor last year. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to a potentially hostile crowd, especially as a lot of the pre-match talk has been of Froch's fitness and of the volcanic ash, which has led to complications in him actually arriving in Denmark. Froch wanted the fight postponed - not exactly the sound of a confident man! If he can get through the early rounds unscathed, then he should go on and win the fight as I feel he has more in the tank than Kessler but he will need to keep his wits about him for all 12 rounds if he is to impress the judges.
So now to the competition. From a boxing perspective, I cannot see the point in tying six men to a series over three years, whereby they are not free to fight anybody outwith this group. I like the idea of something like Prizefighter, an entertaining evening whereby young boxers and veterans (those without much chance of a title shot basically) test their mettle over the course of 4 rounds, with quarter-finals, semis and the final. It's just one night, not three years. If you want to have a competition with multiple boxers, this must be the format that is adopted. The WBA and WBC super middleweight belts are currently held by two amongst these "Super Six", with the presumption that they will change hands several times throughout the competition. This format cheapens these world titles, plain and simple. A league table with 3 points for a KO, 2 for a win, 1 for a draw does not really do justice to the sport of boxing - it strikes me as a dumbing down of the sport, akin to employing dancing girls in Twenty20 cricket - it's a ploy to get more bums on seats.
I hate to sound like a purist, but boxing is a very traditional sport - it would be a shame to abandon these traditions in order to appeal to audience who do not truly understand what a fine sport it is.
RM
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