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Here it is, the tournament of all tournaments. Some call it a revitalization of boxing, I believe the boxing community see’s it differently. From a casual observation, revitalizing seems like a fitting word. But from the perspective of those who are following the sport with a fine-tooth comb, we see it as just another notch in the belt of continual progression. The good fights aren’t just happening, they’ve been happening for quite some time now.

What separates boxing from every other sport is that remaining undefeated is the mission objective. Look at what happened to Meldrick Taylor. Imagine the pressure of always being at your best with nobody to blame but yourself if you get your block knocked. A lifetime of work can be reduced to rubble with one bad performance. I’ve seen careers go up in smoke in less than an hour’s time, sometimes in the fractions of a second. The best can’t always fight the best fight after fight and experience any sort of longevity in the sport. Some have abused fighting tune-up fight caliber opponents, hell…some have made career’s doing it. I’m just saying the fights we want to see are being made with much more frequency.

As soon as the idea for the Super Six Tournament was announced, many fans and critics alike have said that it was all just wishful thinking and will never happen. For a very long time the super-middleweight division has been devoid of interest and lackluster to say the least. With the likes of Joe Calzaghe facing green prospects and over the hill champions for 15 years straight, lets just say its hard to get excited for any major fight at 168.

But as October 17th draws near, I find myself looking for any updates I can get my hands on regarding this tournament. Now that Showtime is producing a new documentary style series ala 24/7, the weekend seems like an eternity from now. The name of the show is called ‘Fight Camp 360°.’ Check out the video for episode 1 below.

The first round of fights will start on October 17th with Arthur Abraham facing Jermain Taylor in Germany and Andre Dirrell meeting Carl Froch in Nottingham, United Kingdom. My sources say that the Abraham.Taylor fight will be aired during the afternoon for viewers in the United States.

For Taylor, I believe his career is on the line. Many are wondering what the man has left to offer. Many critics believe Taylor has won fights he shouldn’t have won, e.g. Hopkins & Spinks. Jermain was a hot prospect, but since that time he’s been fighting elite caliber opposition and hasn’t blossomed into the fighter we thought he would be.

Last April, Taylor fought and whipped Carl Froch for 12 rounds straight. Taylor was on his way to a unanimous decision but got stopped via TKO with just :14 seconds left on the clock. I’m sure that loss has effected Jermain, but the question is how deep. For Taylor to jump into a tournament of this magnitude after losing by TKO in his last fight shows a lot about his character.

Critics are saying Dirrell is untested and they are absolutely correct. For some reason, Andre has gotten off to a slow start in his professional career after winning the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Nobody knows exactly how tough he is. I’m 100% sure that Froch will answer this question come fight night. Good luck to Dirrell…he’s going to need it fighting a UK fighter on UK soil. He’s a strong underdog for the tournament. Last time I checked he was either +1200 or +1500 to win the tournament.

Below is an explanation of the Showtime World Boxing Classic Super Six Tournament in an attempt to guide viewers through the comprehensive event, which is expected to run a total 12 bouts and last through the spring of 2011.

Point system: Win = 2 pts; Draw = 1 pt; KO or TKO = 1 bonus pt; Loss = 0 pts

Competitors:

Oct. 17: Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs), Berlin, Germany, vs. Jermain Taylor (28-3-1, l7 KOs), of Little Rock, Ark., at 02 World Arena, Berlin, Germany.

Oct. 17: World Boxing Council champion Carl Froch (25-0, 20 knockouts), of Nottingham, England, vs. Andre Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs), of Flint, Mich., at the Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England.

Nov. 21: World Boxing Association Mikkel Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs), of Copenhagen, Denmark, vs. Andre Ward (20-0, 13 KOs), of Oakland, Calif., at Oracle Arena, Oakland Calif.

Rules of Engagement: The “Group Stage One” is comprised of each fighter engaging in one bout — for a total of three fights. The first stage pairings are Abraham vs. Taylor, Froch vs. Dirrell, and Kessler vs. Ward.

After each matchup is completed, the boxers will be awarded points based on the results. A win is worth two points; a knockout or stoppage earns an additional bonus point — totaling three; a decision earns two points; a draw, one point; and a loss, zero.

A scoreboard is then created so that observers can track the progress and fighters’ rankings as they advance through each group stage.

For example, if Abraham and Kessler score group one KOs, they will be awarded three points each. A decision by Froch earns two points, and the three American losers, no points.

This means Abraham and Kessler would be tied for first place with three points each, Froch would be in third place with two, and the Americans, all scoreless and tied for fourth.

The second and third group stage pairings already have been pre-determined, however, they won’t be released to the media until later.

After all three group stages have been completed, the points will be totaled, yielding the field of semifinalists seeded Nos. 1 through No. 4. The finalists will be produced from there.

Three: Total fights per individual through initial three group stages

Four: Total fights for each semifinalist

Five: Total fights for runner-up

Five: Total fights for champion

Note: In the event of a tie in any round, a tie-breaking criteria already has been agreed upon.

Its been a tough road for both fighters. Both Kelly Pavlik (35-1-31) and Paul Williams (37-1-27) have chased every big name around in hopes of signing a mega-fight…no such luck. I believe Williams has endured a tougher endeavor as he’s had challenges open in three separate weight divisions.

“Paul Williams, as we have said over and over, will fight anyone at virtually any weight. This is another example of him willing to take on the best. He wants to take over the 160 pound division,” said Williams promoter Dan Goosen. This wasn’t the first time Williams name came across the desk of Team Pavlik, but the waiting game is not a game either fighter enjoy. The wait is over with both fighters on board and I believe we have a mega-fight in our hands.

The preamble of this fight was fought at the negotiation table and was anything but swift. HBO offered a 3.75 million dollar license fee as well as a projected live gate of approximately 2 million. With neither side coming to an agreement, HBO put a deadline in the water as well as not giving the go ahead for another date to fight another fighter. It got to the point where Top Rank was looking at other options for Pavlik with potential match-ups with Winky Wright and Peter Manfredo Jr. I think the boxing community at large would be disgusted with either one of those names as being Pavlik’s next opponent.

Todd Debouf, Pavlik’s promoter, and Dan Goosen finally came to an agreement that guaranteed Williams just under 2 million with a marginal slice of the gate. If Pavlik does lose, there is an option in the rematch clause for a second fight. Since that time, the fight was canceled/postponed because of an injury to Pavlik’s hand.

There has been a lot of chatter circulating the rumor mill that Kelly has a serious alcohol problem, suggesting that is the reason why the fight was initially postponed. In reality, Pavlik had a staph infection on a knuckle of his left hand. I saw pictures of said hand and its as plain as day. I have also had a staph infection and believe me, its no joke.

Pavlik will be defending his unified titles for the third time since taking them from Jermain Taylor in September of 2007. Since that time, Kelly knocked out both Gary Lockett and Marco Antonio Rubio in stellar fashion. Nobody was really excited to hear either of those names when they were announced. But before the Rubio fight, Pavlik fought Bernard Hopkins at a catch-weight of 170/lbs.

Team Pavlik saw that Hopkins would be a good name on the resume and figured it would be an easier fight since Hopkins lost a split decision to Joe Calzaghe in March of 08′. To most critics it appeared that father time had finally caught up with with old man Hopkins. But on October 18th, that plan officially backfired when Pavlik lost a unanimous decision and lost badly. Luckily for Pavlik, it was a non-title affair.

Williams is a champion in both welterweight and jr. middleweight divisions and is looking to do the same in the middleweight division. “I bring too much action to the fight for him,” Williams said. In a pre-fight presser five days ago in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Paul added that, “his game plan is to try to hit me with a power shot and hurt me to get respect. I am going to weather that storm and come back and hit him with some big shots. People ask me if I can deal with a middleweight punch. He’s had some good fights and knocked out some guys. But this fight I’m not going to sleep, I’m putting him to sleep. May the best man win, and that man is going to be me. On December 5th you will definitely see some action. Believe that!”

At a press conference at the Timex Performance Center; George Peterson, Williams trainer, said that, “I want to ask him (looking in the direction of Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew) to take him out of Youngstown. Put him in a real training camp. I don’t want any excuses.” Peterson also said that “Pavlik is simple. He’s a 1-2 man. When you start boxing, they teach you that stuff. Kelly stopped. He never learned anything else.”

“One thing I can assure Team Williams is that we will not be leaving Youngstown and there won’t be any excuses,” Loew said in response to Peterson’s claim. “It’s tough to make excuses when you win a fight. I don’t want to hear any excuses after we win the fight that Paul should be back at 147. They chose to have this fight at 160 and we’ll see how they live up to it after the fight,” added Loew.

On the other hand, Kelly Pavlik believes that, “the big fight right now is Paul Williams. This is the fight everybody in boxing wants to see right now. I’m always out there ready for the best opponent available. He throws a lot of punches, wears fighters down and comes from different angles. He comes to fight. I do the same thing. You’ve seen the wars. I know I’m going to come away with the victory. Everybody asks, “what round do you think?” But there are no rounds to pick. I’m going to go in there, be dominant, come away with the ‘W’ and make history. I’ve got a lot to prove still. I’ve got a lot of goals since I won the world title. I want to become one of the best middleweight of all time.”

Two things are for sure; this fight will be an historical event in boxing history, and Pavlik needs this win more than Williams does. If Williams loses, he has two other divisions to terrorize and people will say Pavlik was just too big and hits like a mule. The man was out of his element.

Now if Pavlik loses, this could hurt pretty badly. From the media’s point of view, he would have lost to a blown up welterweight, and an old ass 44 year old man. The blueprint will be out and it will indicate the man is beatable and this is how its done. Critics have already been quoted to the effect that Pavlik is a plodding and limited fighter. If he can’t make the adjustments he’ll need to make against Williams, that sort of speculation will have much more substance than it already has.

One thing I want to add, every writer out there is saying Williams is a “natural welterweight.” This is everything but true. Williams first 13 professional fights were in the jr. middleweight and middleweight divisions. Three consecutive fights at welter (12/07′-7/02′) and back to jr. middle for a few more (7/02′-2/04′), then back to welter. Williams is not a natural welterweight from what his pro career reflects. So in the event that Pavlik does lose, he did not lose to a “natural welterweight” like the media outlets are saying he is.

Considering his frame of 6′ 2″ (probably more like 6′ 3″) with 82″/reach, Williams has a freakish genetic ability to move in and out of weight divisions with little to no effect on his performance. I seriously can’t think of another fighter in boxing history that has done what Williams is doing. Three championship titles in three different weight divisions in less than 2 years has to be an historical event.

The fight is scheduled for December 5th and the event will be hosted at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Tickets are on sale and there are some good ones left. Can’t seem to find floor seats, but saw some bargains at 200/usd that weren’t much different that the $400 seats. There is a very high probability that I’ll be there for history in the making. There are no betting odds at this time.

Joshua Clottey is also set for an undercard bout, but his opponent is currently TBA. I heard he was fighting Mosley, but then I read it was Berto. Just read something on a Berto.Collazo rematch, so who knows. Either one of those for an undercard bout would be unbelievable. Stay tuned for more updates as the fight draws closer.

As a writer, fights like Roy Jones Jr. vs Jeff Lacy are fights I usually try and stay away from. Why? Words like ‘mismatch’ come to mind and ‘theater’ is another. I remember Peter Manfredo’s name coming up as a potential match for Jones a while back. No disrespect to Peter, but the fans aren’t interested in these sort of fights.

Jones has been criticized for not having career defining match ups and many point fingers at HBO as well as Jones himself. After seeing this card go down the way it did, it makes you think maybe its been Jones all along. As the lights of the arena whir down for the night, Jones is just as bad as HBO has ever been, perhaps even worse. Being in full control of his career, he now has the opportunity to make fights the fans want to see, but instead they get a guy in there, any guy, and maximize profit. Forget a competitive fight, its Roy Jones Jr.! Ya’ll must have forgot.

The entire card was backed by Jones’ production company: ‘Square Ring Promotions.’ SRP plans on doing more fight cards in the future and plans on promoting MMA events as well as major boxing cards. No doubt MMA is a growing market and Jones can see that.

Well known boxing figures like Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton are the first big names in boxing to put hands in that cookie jar. If you saw the bare bones minimum from last night, the last thing you would want is to see it again, never mind pay your hard earned dollars for it.

Every fight was a mismatch title fight. Every match got a towel thrown in by one corner or another because the referee’s weren’t doing their job. Those four referee’s were Mississipi appointed. Hughes should have been warning Jones for showboating in my honest opinion. The endless showboating was degrading to the sport and disrespectful to its fans, especially those (myself included) that paid for this fiasco.

So yeah, Jones sales to victory over Jeff Lacy. I know Roy is trying to make some last minute payday’s and all that, but how much is enough? Jeff Lacy didn’t need to be humiliated like that. Sorry Jeff, best of luck kid.

Montreal native, Arturo Gatti, was found dead earlier today at the resort of Porto de Galihnas, Pernambuco, Brazil. Gatti was found at 6 a.m. this morning by his Brazilian wife, Amanda, in his underwear with blood stains on his neck and the back of his head. They were on a second honeymoon with their 1 year-old son.

As of right now, the cause of death remains unclear, but foul play is suspected. “There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor’” said a spokeswoman for the State Public Safety Department. Local police investigator, Francisco Assis, said that Gatti could have died up to eight hours before his body was found.

Acelino Freitas told the G1 website that Gatti and his wife were having major problems and were about to separate. Also, Gatti was planning to testify in New York this week regarding a lawsuit filed against the New York Athletic Commission by Joey Gamache. Gamache is claiming that Gatti was 19 pounds overweight in their bout in Feb. 2000. Gamache was brutally knocked out and as a result was stricken with permanent brain damage. Reports say Gamache almost died from this ordeal, hence the negligence suit filed against the commission.

Gatti’s professional record was an astounding 40-9-31. Most notably known for his trilogy with Mickey Ward. Gatti won 2 of the 3. Other notables are wins over Tracy Patterson, Ivan Robinson, Angel Manfredy, Jesse James Leija, Gianluca Branco, Calvin Grove and Thomas Damgaard.

First Alexis Arguello, now Arturo Gatti. 2009 hasn’t been a kind year to boxing. The man will be missed and I would like to publicly thank Arturo for giving us so much of himself and some of the greatest fights in boxing history. Rest in peace champ, we’re going to miss ya.