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 (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!!
If no British or Irish TV company buys the rights to these fights I’m moving to America!
Although, it would be a near miracle if ALL these contests went ahead as planned.
Here’s hoping!
Let’s hope so Dave. You would hope that Sky snap it up, they more or less have a monopoly on boxing right now with the BBC and ITV washing their hands of the sport and Setanta going down the gurgler.
Good thing is, the first two fights (Froch-Dirrell and Abraham Taylor) are scheduled to be fought in the UK and Germany respectively, so should get airtime, I quite fancy seeing the pair of them live actually, although the thought of sitting amongst one of those passive, respectful and almost silent German audiences doesn’t thrill me if I’m honest. I have to say however that I find Abraham versus Taylor a really intruiging fight-most will see it as a walkover for King Arthur.
Who do you fancy to win Dave? I’m going for Ward, although I haven’t seen much of Dirrell to be fair.
Just seen the news about Gatti, man alive, Arguello and now Arturo, terrible news.
Right now, I’m leaning torwards either Kessler or Froch. But Abraham could be a monster at 168. Damn, I just can’t decide! Oh hell, I’ll go with Froch. He produced an awful performance against Taylor, but still ended up winning. He’s shown he can still prevail in the face of adversity, which Kessler has yet to prove. So I’ll go with Froch………. for the moment!
I found out last night about Gatti and I’m still in shock. I’m not an emotional guy but I must admit to getting choked up when I read about the tragic news. Arguello, Caldwell and Gatti.
May they all rest in peace.
I certainly fancy Froch’s chances over Dirrell, so he’s already off to a flyer in my book. I hate the way he fights but you gotta love his last two performances, both fantastic fights. With many of the US scribes writing him off you might get decent odds when it’s announced tomorrow-worth a few bob.
Bloody hell I didn’t even know about Caldwell, man the news is grim, I’ve never known a period like it. I was devastated when I heard of Arguello’s death, he was one of my all time heroes.
Might knock up an article on history’s most exciting fighters in Gatti’s honour. I’ve just about given up the ghost with submitting to magazines however, it’s really difficult to break through with the amount of established writers already out there and so few publications.
Don’t give up Haz. Your stuff is excellent and a lot better than some of the guff I read in so-called “respectable” boxing magazines. Maybe you should send stuff out to boxing writers as opposed to magazines. You never know, one of them may recommend you to a publication or a newspaper. Keep trying dude, you’re definitely ready to write for a top boxing magazine. It’s just a matter of catching a break.
Thanks mate, you’re too kind. I’ve sent a few articles to Bill Dettloff, he’s such a good bloke, he forwarded my huge 6 months in the making piece to Nigel Collins at Ring mag but I never heard any more from it. There are some canny fellas out there, I’ve yet to hear a peep from the boxing news lot, mind you they don’t publish features as a rule.
I’ll keep plugging away, kind of hard not to feel like one of those deluded pop idol rejects at times!!
Cheers again Dave, how’s it going over on 411mania?
It’s going great. Caused a bit of controversy a while back though with an article I wrote about Bobby Gunn getting a title shot against Tomasz Adamek. Suffice to say, Mr. Gunn wasn’t too happy with what I wrote.
I enjoy writing about boxing, but it’s just a hobby for me. I don’t really see it as a genuine career path. You have a talent though and I honestly believe you should be writing for a boxing publication.
Another thing you can do is to start sending various pieces to different websites. Editors often spot untapped talent on websites such as secondsout and fightnews. Guys like Ant Evans and Ben Cohen went from writing on secondsout.com to writing numerous articles on Boxing Monthly and I’m sure there are countless other examples.
So as you say, keep plugging away and I’m positive your hard work will be rewarded someday.