The Curse of the Super Six: Andre Dirrell Withdraws from Super 6 Tournament
By Gina L. Caliboso
Say it isn’t so. The Super Six Middleweight tournament now faces a third casualty from its original lineup over a year ago. The Super Six round robin concept was exciting and innovative, putting boxing promoters on notice that there should be some sort of qualifying tournament to determine champions of a specific weight division. But things haven’t gone well for the tournament. Please bear with me as I do an injury summary of the tournament. Thrown in a DQ and it makes for a very bad cloud lingering over the remaining boxers.
Oh yeah, there is also a welcome addition – sort of – to the tournament.
In the first round, Jermain Taylor fought against Arthur Abraham and in the closing seconds of the bout, suffered a KO. Taylor eventually withdraws from the tournament.
In the next bout, Andre Dirrell fights against Carl “Cobra” Froch in Nottingham, England. A questionable decision with a convinced Dirrell that there was never any chance of him winning on Froch’s home soil. The first round continues back to the US where Kessler faces Andre “S.O.G.” Ward. Kessler loses by TD, suffering some really bad cuts, but I don’t think he was necessarily winning either. The next bout is supposed to be between Abraham and Ward.
On the Showtime series Fight 360, Abraham makes his way to the CA desert in order to fight Ward and well, he loses the luggage that contains his belt. Ward gets injured and the bout is rescheduled. Meanwhile with Taylor out, replacement Allan Green steps in ready to fight against Ward.
The second round of the tournament begins with a very determined and technical Kessler defeating Froch, I think. But somewhere in there, Dirrell fights against Abraham and suffered DQ that was felt for everyone on the replay. Dirrell is shaky and confused after the punch with an even more confused Abraham questioning as to why he got disqualified. There, I’m done, I think.
Gosh, and they say women create drama.
For the first time, I had been tuning into Showtime instead of HBO. The promoters of all six original fighters had been really fortunate to be able to sit down and come up with a new way to energize boxing. It ultimately turned into the European fighters versus the American fighters. But now, it’s not just coincidence. There truly is a curse associated with this tournament – or perhaps just another stage for some good coincidences?
Bear with me on this, please. I believe in coincidence. I believe that things happen for a reason. With Andre Dirrell pulling out of the tournament just as he is about to fight Andre “S.O.G.” Ward, I can only hypothesize that the tourney has just been filled with misfortune. Boxing fans again, are left with nothing as to why our beloved sport continues to just reflect a fight matchup system that fails to deliver quality fights and matchups. Bear in mind that if Dirrell’s injury is career ending, I’d be very upset and disappointed knowing that the career ended with a punch while he was down. It was a dirty punch and I pray to God and pray for Dirrell that he does not suffer permanent damage.
The Super Six is not the same event as it was a year ago. We now have the most recent addition of Glen “Gentleman” Johnson after Kessler’s withdrawal due to injury. Most recently, Glen Johnson, 50-14, 35 KO’s suffered a loss to Tavoris Cloud in 12 rounds with a unanimous decision. I’ve always liked Johnson, but as a light heavyweight. Johnson is now set to meet Allan Green who had replaced Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor.
From the original 6 fighters, it appears the remaining three fighters have to go forth in their matchups. Froch faces Abraham on November 27th in Finland for the now vacant WBC Super Middleweight title. But despite my observations on the injury summary for the tournament, the Super Six is still, nonetheless going to continue. I had been looking forward to the bout between Ward and Dirrell because I think they made the next great wave for American boxing. Even more importantly, both Ward and Dirrell were prospects waiting for the big boxing break and the Super Six offered them much more exposure and opportunity.
Right now, Lucian “Le Tombeur” Bute, 26-0, 21 KO’s stands as the number one super middleweight and is set to fight against Jesse Brinkley, 35-5, 22 KO’s this Saturday in order to defend his IBF Super Middleweight belt. But I still stand firm with Ward. He is an amazing talent with good hands and speed. I believe that Ward has become better with each fight of the tournament. I’ll even predict that he is going to win the entire tournament.
As for a future matchup, I’d love Bute and Ward fight in the next year.
Even as I anticipate a hopeful 2011 boxing year, I don’t know anymore about boxing overall. Call me woman, call me fickle, but I may have to jump on the Brian Wilbur bandwagon, shrug my shoulders and just give up on boxing. But please, my heart and prayers do genuinely go out to Dirrell. I think he, like Ward, is a tremendous talent and their bout would have been excellent.
For all those that accuse Dirrell of ducking, I’d tell them to back off. Each of the boxers that have dropped off, Taylor, Kessler, and now Dirrell have to protect and save their bodies once their boxing careers are over. As dedicated as they are to the sport of boxing, I’d never accuse a fighter of taking time off to re-evaluate his life, notably to take physical stock if whether the sacrifice of their body to the sport they love is ever a case of anything other than realizing it’s over. But as we all know, boxers never say it’s over. Boxers keep fighting. And much like the Super 6 Tournament, will go on to the sound of the bell.