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Showtime negotiating super middleweight round robin tournament

_42174836_mikkelkessler203_mediumAccording to Rick Reeno, Showtime is currently in the process of setting up a major super middleweight tournament with most of the major players in the weight class.  Evidently, this would work by Showtime signing each of the fighters to multi-fight deals, and then having a round-robin style tournament with multiple cards.  The winners of the fights will be assigned points, and the four fighters with the most points would meet each other in semifinals and finals, hopefully with the end result of creating a lineal super middleweight champion. 

The proposed matches are as follows:

Arthur Abraham Vs Jermain Taylor - October In Germany
Carl Froch Vs Andre Dirrell - October in the UK
Mikkel Kessler Vs Andre Ward - In November
Arthur Abraham vs Andre Dirrell - January 2010 in America
Mikkel Kessler Vs Carl Froch - March 2010 in Europe
Andre Ward Vs Jermain Taylor - April/May 2010 in America
Andre Dirrel Vs Andre Ward - September 2010 in America
Arthur Abraham Vs Carl Froch - November 2010
Mikkel Kessler VS Jermain Taylor - November 2010

Now obviously, there are a few stumbling blocks here.  First, Lucian Bute is not included in the tournament as proposed, which would make it difficult to create a new lineal champ.  He probably has the best resume at super middleweight over the last two years, and is the consensus #2 in the weight class.  Second, Mikkel Kessler is still having his legal troubles with Mogens Palle, although according to the article, Palle would give Kessler a special dispensation to participate.  Third, this means there's no Pavlik vs. Abraham, as Abraham will have permanently moved up to 168 in an effort to become a major player there. Fourth, it leaves Pavlik SOL, as the only decent potential opponents not participating would be Bute and Felix Sturm. Finally, even if it gets signed up, there are so many big promoters and big personalities involved that you'd have to anticipate a few hiccups along the way.

Still, if this is true, it's great news, and I'm thrilled that Showtime is trying to put something big together.  They've already made quite an investment in the super middleweight division, and a tournament like this would take it from a good division with a lot of depth to a very strong division with one or two pound for pound level fighters.

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After all the bad news in the boxing world lately...

I needed this. Hope it’s for real.

Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"

by Matt Miller on Jul 4, 2009 1:21 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

be nice if this also goads HBO to do something similar with the 140-147 fighters

by FunnyBigHat on Jul 4, 2009 3:45 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Wow

If this is correct and they get it off the ground, it would be amazing. Seeing so many top quality bouts in the same division in such a short space of time must be unprcedented (I am prepared to be corrected. . . )! It would put super middleweight on another level

by Brett87 on Jul 4, 2009 3:47 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Can't correct you

Its certainly unprecedented in this era in boxing.

Gimme 1 round!

by ItBurnzWhenIP on Jul 5, 2009 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Fourth, it leaves Pavlik SOL……

??? Please explain, I don’t get the acronym, and I’m too drunk/tired to think too hard….

Also, I can sum up this tournament in two words;

KESSLER

SMASH.

I thank you, if you want more perceptive and concise punditry, I’m here all week. :)

Boxing is the beginning of all sports. I'm willing to bet that the first sport was a man against another man in a fight. (Omar Epps)

by Chaos100 on Jul 4, 2009 9:02 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

SOL = shit out of luck

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Jul 4, 2009 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I APPROVE

Super MW Grand Prix!

Gimme 1 round!

by ItBurnzWhenIP on Jul 5, 2009 9:18 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Where you at MisterLee

I thought for sure I’d find you backing up your boy Ward on this article.

by ultimoshogun on Jul 5, 2009 10:20 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

just for kicks... (not that I expect much of this to happen)
Arthur Abraham Vs Jermain Taylor – October In Germany

Abraham by stoppage. JT won’t even dent him.

Carl Froch Vs Andre Dirrell – October in the UK

I really like Carl Froch after his last two fights and if he gets Dirrell in trouble, he could put him away for sure. But I like Dirrell in this matchup so long as he doesn’t get all cowboy in there.

Mikkel Kessler Vs Andre Ward – In November

Kessler by wide decision.

Arthur Abraham vs Andre Dirrell – January 2010 in America

I think Dirrell actually has the tools to beat Abraham, but I don’t think he would. Abraham in a fairly close decision (116-112ish).

Mikkel Kessler Vs Carl Froch – March 2010 in Europe

Kessler by wide decision.

Andre Ward Vs Jermain Taylor – April/May 2010 in America

Very tough call. Assuming it all went down, I think Abraham really crushes JT in their fight and I don’t know how he does here. If Abraham beat Taylor like I imagine he would, JT’s confidence would be shot. Ward close.

Andre Dirrel Vs Andre Ward – September 2010 in America

Dirrell by decision.

Arthur Abraham Vs Carl Froch – November 2010

This could be a real slugfest if Froch got Abraham to trade with him. Probably the best matchup for Froch here. Abraham decision, though.

Mikkel Kessler VS Jermain Taylor – November 2010

Kessler by late stoppage.

by SC on Jul 5, 2009 11:54 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

bute and pavlik

get the shaft.

they should fight each other. not much is out there now for them.

by sonofapsycho on Jul 5, 2009 3:25 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Sounds like Bute shafted himself

And ducked his way out of this.

Gimme 1 round!

by ItBurnzWhenIP on Jul 6, 2009 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Would love to see JT reassert himself….and for some reason Ward-Dirrell sounds spectacular

Bruce Seldon > Ali

by rjhabeeb on Jul 5, 2009 4:07 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Not that he's in this class

But Sakio Bika gets screwed by this. Not because he deserves to be a member of the tournament, but because when everybody is floating around independently, it’s much easier for him to snag a big fight than when everyone is locked away fighting each other.

by schraubd on Jul 5, 2009 9:12 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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