
Froch to Ward: 'Hey man, how the hell do we get off this crazy island and who the hell's that little guy with the one inch punch? Nobody told me Manny Pacquiao was in this freakin' tournament......'
Ok they got me, I’m loving the idea of the forthcoming super middle tourny, a six man round robin (of sorts) which will see a hell of a lot of fur flying from now until 2011. I’m sure every fight fan worth his salt has spied the concept and proposed schedule and will be running through the draw, trying to finger a likely winner. As my illustrious annual XBox soccer tournaments have proven however, the winner is usually a rank outsider, all of the best matches will take place early doors and the final is a nailed on certainty to end up a damp squib.
For those looking for slightly more concrete evidence on the way that this rumble is likely to play out, other than that which my yearly button thrashing festival can provide anyway (how dare you by the way), here’s a reminder on the way the WBA heavyweight tourno of 1967-68 went down:
The original line up was thus: Joe Frazier, Thad Spencer, Jimmy Ellis, Jerry Quarry, Ernie Terrell, Karl Mildenberger, Oscar Bonavena and Floyd Patterson. Frazier immediately decided to opt out and was replaced by Leotis Martin. ‘Peekaboo’ Floyd quickly assumed the position of favourite after Frazier’s departure……. annnnnddddd promptly lost in his first match against the super tough Quarry in a squeaker. Ellis took Martin, Spencer beat Terrell and Mildenberger took a bit of a thumping from the old mop top from Buenos Aires, ‘Ringo’ Bonavena. In the semis, Ellis waltzed past Bonavena and Quarry proved too tough for Spencer. As per my XBox theory, the final was a tepid affair, Ellis neutralising Quarry expertly and taking a points verdict and an alphabet title in the process. Ellis it should be noted, had been arguably the rank outsider at the tournament get go.
As a footnote, Smokin’ Joe, after coolly watching events unfold, waited for the dust to settle like a lion in the long grass before pouncing, walloping Ellis in five.
It is truly a shame that a proposed HBO heavyweight tourny circa ‘95 involving the likes of Lewis, Bowe, Moorer, Holyfield, Foreman and Morrison didn’t come to pass. Lou Dibella had designed this in order to combat the monopoly Showtime had on the alphabet titles, King having signed Tyson on his release and the likes of Botha, McCall, Seldon etc waiting in the wings as well paid cannon fodder. As with Frazier and the WBA boys from the 60’s, Tyson would have been waiting for the winner of the HBO competition and we would probably (finally) have seen Lewis and Bowe get it on as the process unfolded. Damn shame.
Over on Ring Magazine’s website, Michael Rosenthal and Dougie Fischer have already had a crack at picking a winner of the 168 version. Rosenthal goes for a Abraham-Dirrell final, Dougie plumps instead for Abraham-Kessler. Neither picked Carl Froch to win a single fight.
I fancy we’ll see at least one fighter drop out before it all kicks off in October, and the eventual victor will be an unlikely hero. The thing that makes it so difficult to pick a winner is the fact that more than one of these boys have something huge to prove to the world. Kessler’s career has stalled since the Calzaghe loss, Ward’s has never quite taken off, Froch feels that he’s been denied success until late in life and Abraham appears to have been avoided by the bigger names he has yearned to face off against.
I think Kessler’s the best fighter here, Abraham probably the toughest, Froch has the most self belief and will to win, however I’m gonna ignore all that and stick my money on Ward…….or Kessler……no Ward…..damn I’m wavering, we’ll call it a Kessler-Ward final and I’ll sleep on it. That’s the beauty of this thing though, it has excitement, intrigue and has people talking and that my friends is exactly what this beloved sport of ours needs. Game on!!


Boy, this is a tough call. In a fight as closely balanced as this one (where on earth have the bookmakers plucked the idea that Cotto is a 3-1 on favourite from?), we’re really looking at fine details and small margins when looking to pick a winner. Matched perfectly in terms of skill, size, power, experience, ring smarts etc etc it’s the intangibles which I’ve had to fall back on in order swing the pendulum in one particular direction.



