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By Kirk Jackson
October 29th, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was the date scheduled for the final bout of the highly publicized, highly regarded, super middleweight “Super Six” tournament.
Photo Credit: Tom Casino / SHOWTIME
A tournament featured on ShowTime, has run it’s course over the past two years featuring the best fighters from the super middleweight division.
Participants such as Arthur Abraham, Mikkel Kessler, Andre Dirrell, Andre Ward, Carl Froch and Jermain Taylor.
A tournament that also featured a few substitutes such as Glen Johnson, Sakio Bika and Allan Green.
The two fighters reaching the finals were certainly underdogs when the tournament first started, and now have emerged as the top fighters of their division and are developing into household names.
Unfortunately, the bout between Andre “S.O.G.“ Ward and Carl “The Cobra” Froch and conclusion of the tournament will have to wait.
During a sparring session, Ward suffered a severe cut above his right eye and according to a medical specialist, will require quite some time to heal.
Both fighters have expressed their disappointment in this unfortunate turn of events.
According to reports from boxingscene, both fighters expressed the opinions on that matter.
Ward said: “This is very frustrating for my camp and I, and I that if the shoe were on the other foot and Froch suffered an injury, I would be extremely disappointed.”
The Bay Area product went even further stating, “I’d like to express my apologies to Showtime, the fans and the Froch camp, but this is a part of boxing. Ward and Froch will still get it on but, unfortunately, the date just has to be pushed back.”
Froch obviously frustrated, stated, “Of course you’ve got to take the medical advice seriously, but for a cut to put you out of a fight five full weeks is ludicrous. To me, he’s showing his weakness. Nothing changes for me. I’ll be ready if and when he shows up.”
Showtime apparently caught the incident on camera and will reportedly show in on one of the upcoming episodes for their program ‘Fight Camp 360.’
A few dates have been mentioned as a potential make up date for the bout, the common mentioned is the date of December 10th, a night that also features a welterweight fight between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson.
The question is, will the postponement of the fight give either fighter an advantage, or will it hinder their efforts?
It’s hard to judge because both fighters are in the middle of training camp, with a little more than a month to go.
As mentioned earlier, Froch echoed his disappointment in the postponement of the fight, but if anything this may be a blessing in disguise.
Compared to Ward, Froch is a little older, has participated in more bouts and has had a tougher road to reach the finals of the “Super Six” tournament.
When I say tougher road, I do not necessarily mean the level of competition, because Ward has faced great opposition as well.
But because of Froch’s fighting style and lack of reflexes or sophisticated defensive technique, Froch has endured and accumulated a lot of damage in his recent fights.
The Cobra had a war with Jean Pascal and a life and death battle against Jermain Taylor prior to entering the tournament.
Since his entry into the tournament, Froch participated in tough battles against Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler and Glen Johnson.
As tough as Froch is, a little extra time to recuperate may be beneficial to him.
But it is understandable for him to want get on with the fight, and this interruption may have a negative effect as far as timing goes for his upcoming match up.
Only time will tell.
