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by:

Joshuwa
"Ashyknuckles"
Jernigan

The Super Six Boxing Tournament is the best thing to ever happen to the super middleweight division. The boxing tournament is designed like a round-robin tournament, with each fighter having three fights and obtaining two points per victory. They also receive one point for a draw and a bonus point for a wins via knockout. The four combatants with the most points advance to the semifinals, with the championship fight scheduled for early 2011.

The tournament participants include six superior 168lbers from the likes of Jermain Taylor, Arthur Abraham, Mikkel Kessler, Andre Dirrell, Andre Ward, and Carl Froch. The three Europeans world champions and three former US Olympians will fight each other in different venues around the globe. Kessler, Taylor, Froch, and Abraham are all seasoned pros with the most experience, and each have held one or more legitimate world titles within the extent of the careers thus far. Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell are the two American contenders looking to make a name for themselves by facing, and possibly defeating, the very best that the division has to offer. At this point in time, the super middleweight division is so talent rich that winners and losers of this tournament will have future mega fights available. There are fighters such as Allan Green, Lucien Bute, Sakio Bika, and Librado Andrade who were not invited to participate in the tourney, but who would love an opportunity to prove to the world that they're among the elite 168lbers. Furthermore, being that the year 2011 marks the date of the finale, the tournament concludes around the time when upcoming fighters Marcus "Too Much" Johnson and Alfonso "El Tigre" Lopez graduate from hot prospects to legit world title contenders. With these potential fights on the horizontal, the aforementioned fighters have a reason to tarry for an extended period as the 168lb class easily takes over as the hottest division in boxing.

The first bout in the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Tournament is between Jermain Taylor 28 - 3 (17KOs) and Arthur Abraham 30 - 0 (24KOs). Taylor, former Undisputed Middleweight Champion, has lost three of his last four fights against the who's who of the middleweight and super middleweight divisions. Many people have written him off as "shot," and have provided valid arguments in their efforts to prove that the best of Taylor has already come and gone. The 5' 11" rangy, boxer-puncher from Little Rock, Arkansas has always displayed his immense desire to be great, in the ring. He hasn't had a tune-up fight in over five years as he has faced Pavlik (2x), Ouma, Spinks, Lacy, Froch, Hopkins (2x), and Wright all within that same time frame. He has an excellent skill set and the power to make any opponent respect him in the ring. He has added new elements to his repertoire, improving technically as a fighter, by increasing the use of a solid jab, lateral movement, head movement, and effective counter-punching. But, his boxing ability and choice of opposition are not at question. The lack of conditioning for the long haul is what's been failing him time and time again in marquee fights. In his fights with Froch and Pavlik, he stood his ground firmly by outboxing his opponents only to fade late in losing efforts. In all three fights, his opponents would come on late, as Taylor began to tire, and they triumphed by stopping Taylor or winning a decision.

Arthur Abraham is a rock solid, undefeated former IBF middleweight champion. And due to troubles in securing unification fights with the likes of Kelly Pavlik and Felix Sturm, Abraham seized the opportunity to participate in this tournament. Abraham is untested at the super middleweight limit, as he's only faced and defeated hard hitting, Edison Miranda in a highly anticipated rematch. Abraham will find his best challenge in Taylor, who's a well schooled former champion looking to prove he's still belongs in the category of upper echelon fighters in the sport. It's unfortunate that he never fought Felix Sturm or Kelly Pavlik, but Abraham’s made ten successful defenses of his IBF middleweight title, which is more than both champions combined. He stands at 5' 10" and has great defense, staggering power, and good upper body strength. His "peek-a-boo" defense is reminiscent of Joshua "The Hitter" Clottey and Ronald "Winky" Wright. Abraham, apart from his defensive style also has skillful technique, deceiving hand-speed and is a very economical boxer who really does not waste punches. In his title defenses, he has shown the proven patience to deliver his devastating counters in a very calculated manner due to his great timing. Some of Abraham’s doubters believe he's too small to compete among the giants in the 168lb division. He's at a disadvantage in strength, reach, and height in every potential match-up while contending for the championship.

So, this particular fight is not just an exciting match-up of styles, but a fight to determine each fighter's worth, and likelihood in possibly winning the tournament. Both guys have expressed their desires to face one another, and on October 17th at the O2 Arena, they have promised fireworks for boxing fans to enjoy leading in to the next series of fights in the first round. Will Taylor display the world class conditioning that brought him to the championship level in boxing? Or will Abraham prove that despite the disadvantages in size and strength, he has the skill, heart, and ring savvy necessary to compete at the highest level in the competition. Fight fans worldwide salivate when thinking about this encounter between two world-class athletes, in the prime of their careers, daring to be great by fighting the best opposition available. We all know that October 17th promises to be a great night of boxing.

This fight being promoted by: