Super Six Final Review

The Super Six final was eventually a rather low key event, with the attendance at the fight just under 6,000. In addition, the fact that there were approximately 200 Froch fans and, I would guess, in the region of 50 Ward followers from Oakland, resulted in a rather muted atmosphere. Most of the remainder of the American crowd wanted to see Ward win, although not all; I spoke to a number of people who were erring towards supporting Froch, and he is certainly not short of admirers in the US. In fact, after the fight, the possibility of a Bute v Froch match up was far and away the most talked about, and not only by the fans.

The fight itself was largely one-sided. Froch was unable to establish a rhythm or land any really meaningful shots. He himself acknowledges that this was due to Ward's speed and slick defence. Much as I'd have liked to have seen The Cobra win the fight, he came nowhere near as close to doing so as two of the judges would have you believe. My feeling on the night was that Froch may have won as many as four rounds, but on rewatching, I'd struggle to give him more than two. Ironically, the English judge, John Keane, was the only one of the three that saw the fight this way, with Canadian Craig Metcalfe, and American John Stewart scoring the fight 115-113.

So where was the fight won and lost? My write up on Saturday's big fight was largely based on the assumption that Froch may be able to bully Ward. Whilst I stand by my position that Ward's punching power is below average at world level, he really surprised me with the fact that he was able to push Froch back onto the ropes. On several occasions during the fight, Froch was looking to Steve Smoger to step in and separate them; but Smoger is notoriously hands off, and told Froch later in the fight not to put his hands up when he was looking for a break. Whilst few would have been surprised at Ward's ability to win the fight at range, his mastery of the inside game was equally impressive, if less easy on the eye.

Ward has just revealed that he had two broken bones in his left hand prior to the fight and that these, quite understandably, caused him significant discomfort during the fight. I'm not aware of his having had this type of issue previously in his career, but this doesn't appear to bode well for any future improvement in his KO ratio if his hands turn out to be brittle. Diehard Ward fans may point to this injury as a reason for his inability to win the fight inside the distance but, as per my previous article, I would consider that this would have been extremely unlikely in any event. Whilst Ward caught Froch with numerous good, clean shots on Saturday, I didn't get the impression that Froch was hurt in the way that he had been in the bouts with Pascal, Taylor, Kessler and even Dirrell at one point. In addition, Ward himself has said that his hand only started to cause him discomfort after the halfway mark.

Whilst a rematch has been mentioned as a possibility, it is almost unfathomable that this will take place straight away, if at all. Ward is extremely difficult to either catch properly or win rounds against. Another Ward victory on points would be heavy odds on, unless Froch is able to radically change his game plan, which would seem unlikely.

In spite of Ward's comfortable victory, the immediate future looks arguably rosiest for Froch. Lucian Bute was touted to fight the winner of the Super Six, but the noises currently being made suggest that he's more likely to fight the loser. This may yet turn out to be politics, but there are certainly clear reasons for Bute to fight the Englishman.

Regardless of the loss, Froch remains at least Ward's equal in terms of selling tickets, and arguably his superior in this department, due to his fan friendly style. I do not wish to discredit Ward unduly, but a fighter that is hard to hit, but does not hit hard, will often whip up little enthusiasm outside boxing purists, until they reach Mayweather levels of fame. Andre Ward is an excellent boxer and on the cusp of the top 5 pound-for-pound, but he is, as yet, lacking in superstar status. This may well come with time, but I see Ward's larger pay days coming a few years down the line.

A Bute v Froch match-up would likely sell out both the Bell Center in Montreal (approximately 20,000) and the City Ground in Nottingham (approximately 36,000), were the talked of double-header to be arranged. This brings me to a further obstacle between a Bute/Ward fight. Since 2004, Bute has only fought twice outside of his adopted homeland of Canada, and both of this fights were in his native Romania. Andre Ward has only twice fought outside the United States, and has not done so since 2008. Presumably the fighters would both accept a fight in Las Vegas, but whether there is the appetite for this fight remains to be seen. Clearly the home and away bouts would involve Bute fighting away from home, but the bumper double pay day in prospect for both fighters may just persuade him.

Aside from the commercial and travel aspects, Bute must surely fancy his chances far more against Carl Froch of the two. I am already on the record as saying that Bute could be something or nothing. His current resume is underwhelming, and his final round knock out against Librado Andrade raises serious questios. Bute may or may not be world class, but either way, he would go into a fight against Ward as a significant underdog. Bute would likely be favoured to win against Froch, although I would personally make Froch favourite for this fight.

Aside from Bute, a rematch against Kessler is very much on the cards for Froch, although it would seem unlikely that there would be much clamour for a rematch between Kessler and Ward; although this may change if Kessler beats Stieglitz and Ward wants to unify. Anthony Dirrell is the mandatory challenger for Ward, although I suspect that this fight is perhaps a little soon for Dirrell, and would be a relatively easy night's work for Ward. Personally, I'd like to see Ward taken on Andre Dirrell, a match that was scheduled to happen within the tournament, before Dirrell withdrew through injury. I would be surprised if Ward didn't beat him, but Dirrell is the only man in the division that can rival Ward for speed. Whilst Dirrell's stomach for the fight is perhaps dubious, he would at least have the tools to catch Ward cleanly, which could make for an intriguing evening.

Overall, I believe the tournament to be, whilst flawed, a success. Kessler went in as the favourite, whilst Ward was a double figure odds outsider. Of course this all changed after the first fight. Ward should have a very bright future ahead of him and the division as a whole has been left in rude health.