For the better part of the last three years, Showtime has cultivated activity in 168 lb division through not only its “Showtime Championship Boxing” series, but also through programming in its prospect development series “ShoBox” and in “Special Edition: ShoBox” presentations. All of the negotiating, programming and effort on Showtime’s part has finally paid off in earnest, with the anticipated announcement of an elaborate 168 lb tournament. I’ll break down and analyze the tournament and the discourse surrounding it in two editorials over the course of the next few days.
On Monday in New York City, an official announcement of the six man round robin tournament will be made. The participants: Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Jermain Taylor, Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell are a veritable who’s who of the 160/168 lb fighting region. Because of the depth at 168 a handful of other fighters could have been included within the tournament; Lucien Bute’s omission from the field being the most obvious unfortunate exclusion.
Bute may be the best fighter in the division. Those who reside in the “perfect is the enemy of good” camp have already vociferously pointed this out. A handful of other fighters could be in the field; Allan Green, Sakio Bika and Bute’s upcoming mandatory opponent, Librado Andrade could all compete with many, if not all, of the fighters in the tournament.
I’ll not assume the task of debating the merits of this tournament with the pessimist camp. They’re a lot consisting of people who tend to make up their mind immediately without much chance of being convinced otherwise. Instead, I’ll highlight some key aspects of the tournament…both positive and negative, with the understanding that I’m absolutely ecstatic about the fact that it has been agreed to and will likely take place.
I’ll start with bullet points of the positive aspects of this tournament then discuss each of them within prose analysis:
- Even blend of European and American fighters
- Even blend of titlists, experienced contenders and exceptionally talented young prospects
- Round robin format followed by single elimination
In the years since Joe Calzaghe bolted from Showtime’s airwaves to fight in a series of both lucrative and career defining fights on HBO, the 168 lb division has been searching for a new champion. Alogn the way, Showtime has been actively involved in the process of trying to find the division’s new champion. Most importantly, the cable network has gone out of its way to bring Abraham to the US, air Bute’s title defenses and help expose such young prospects as Ward and Dirrell to meaningful fights along their climb up the divisional rankings.
Showtime has not fallen into the trap that many in within boxing’s intelligentsia have which is to assume Calzaghe’s chief 168 lb rival Kessler or the most high profile American fighter in the weight region, Jermain Taylor, would ultimately assume the title. The network cast a wide net and caught some intriguing matchups without the benefit of Kessler…until now. And while Taylor’s demise hurt HBO’s ratings in the 160 lb division; his further plunge on Showtime’s air only set the stage for Froch to become a major player in this tournament.
For better or worse, Showtime’s extended efforts within the 168 lb division have not been characterized by the preordained fight buildup that clearly defines HBO’s big fight programming. For example, when HBO announced plans to air Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather-Ricky Hatton in the late fall 2007 the end goal was Mayweather-Cotto. It didn’t happen, but HBO eventually got fights like Cotto-Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao-Hatton.
It’s less clear which fights Showtime would like to get out of their 168 lb free for all. We do know, though, that we won’t have to sit through fights like Cotto-Alfonso Gomez or Oscar De la Hoya-Steve Forbes along the way to the other big fights. The tournament is chalk full of accomplished favorites and talented live underdogs.
The Europeans are probably all favorites to advance into the semis and finals, but none of the Americans can be counted out. On the European end, two fighters hold titles in the division while another will relinquish his 160 lb title to contend at 168 instead. All three Americans are decorated amateurs who’ve worked their way through the professional rankings. Taylor may be nearing the end of his career as a world class contender while Ward and Dirrell are making their much anticipated leap into the big leagues. In any event, none of the three figure to be a heavy underdog in his first match. It only takes one win to get fans back on the bandwagon.
So, the answer to the question of why Showtime and the involved parties favored a round robin format at the onset of the tournament should be obvious. Single elimination formats are for the impatient. They reinforce the idea that a single loss should ruin a fighter’s career. But losses to any of the fighters involved in this tournament shouldn’t ruin a fighter’s career. Say, for example, Andre Dirrell were to lose a close decision to Carl Froch, likely in Froch’s hometown no less, in the opening round of the tournament should Dirrell’s title hopes be dashed indefinitely? Of course not.
Unfortunately, we’ve grown accustomed to the perpetuation of that trend and expect it to continue. But this format (round robin followed by single elimination) works with team sport competitions like soccer’s World Cup, baseball’s World Baseball Classic, basketball’s World Championships, etc. The NFL’s season nearly mimics the format only on a larger scale. Even if some key players were left out, I’m more than willing to give this tournament a chance.
Now, I’m not saying that this tournament is perfect. I’ve described one of the obvious flaws already and will rehash it, but there are a couple of other nitpicky complaints that I will point out. Again, bullet points then analysis.
- Omission of potential division kingpin and several key contenders
- Uneven spread of home crowd advantage
- Inability to guarantee semis and finals will happen
I’ll beat the dead horse; Bute should be in this tournament. The most obvious guy he should replace is Taylor, but Taylor adds some badly needed star power to the tournament’s talented though largely anonymous (in the US) group of athletes. It’d also be nice to see Bika, Andrade and/or Green in this field. Showtime has aired fights involving all four. It would hardly surprise anyone if the network were to air fights involving this quartet concurrently with the scheduled tournament fights, but until that happens their absence from the tournament will be a bit of a sore spot. But I’d like to close that can of worms as quickly as I opened it.
A quick look at the tournament schedule points to some likely inequity in the home crowd advantage. Dirrell must go to the UK for his October fight against Froch. He’ll get Abraham in the US, but will likely fight Ward in Oakland, where Ward fought before a lively crowd this spring. That’s two trips to his opponent’s hometown. Dirrell doesn’t have a loyal following or a title. So, he figured to be one likely to face a disadvantage with the crowd.
A more curious victim of this disadvantage is Kessler who will travel to Oakland to defend his title against Ward in November. The locations of Kessler’s fights against Froch and Taylor have not been announced, but one must surmise that at least one of those fights will be a road trip. Kessler outranks all tournament contestants in espn.com, Ring Magazine and fightnews.com’s rankings and only trails Froch in boxrec.com’s rankings. Yet, he may travel more than he plays host.
Finally, while Showtime’s feat of reaching a deal with six fighters of this caliber and five different promoters for an event of this magnitude is immeasurably impressive, the mere fact that so many different parties are involved leaves for inevitable and fervent doubt that the master plan will ultimately come to fruition. I am not sure what else the network could have done to prevent this pessimism, but it still exists and that’s a problem heading into the tournament.
