Super Six Final: The Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City 12-27-11
By John Wagner sitting Ringside
The Boardwalk Hall was the setting for the Super Six final presented by Goosen Tutor Promotions and Caesars Palace. The best middle weights in the world were pitted against each other in a tournament that took nearly 2 ½ years to complete. In front of a raucous crowd with the announced attendance being 5,626, the fighters but on a great night of boxing. Some of the great boxers in the crowd to witness the event were Bernard Hopkins, Eddie Chambers, Victor Cruz, Lucian Bute, Lamont Peterson along with many others including a number of celebrities. Sitting ringside next to my good friend Derek Gionta from www.secondsout.com and also one of the best boxing writers in the country, we witnessed some top flight talent at its best. The Atlantic City faithful saw their home town boy John Lennox score a devastating knockout. Edison Miranda delivered a solid performance finishing his opponent via TKO. Kell Brock, fighting for the first time in the United States looked as good as advertised landing over 50% of his power punches. It doesn’t seem like it will be long before he is a force to be reckoned with as a 148 pounder. In the main event was Andre Ward vs Carl Froch. Ward painted a masterpiece over 12 rounds. There was more than one reporter sitting next to me at ringside that scored the fight a shutout for Ward. Most writers gave Froch one round, two would have been generous. Ward finished off his stellar year in dominant style, unanimously running away with “Fighter of the Year” voted by Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Ring Magazine among others. For the full breakdown of all the fights, here is a great write up by Derek Gionta from www.secondsout.com
Andre "S.O.G." Ward continued his quest for super middleweight supremacy by dominating Carl "The Cobra" Froch on Saturday night at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall in the highly anticipated Super Six World Boxing Classic Final.
Ward (25-0, 13 KOs), from Oakland, CA, fought outside of his home state of California for the first time in this tournament, continuing his dominant reign over the division’s best. Now the holder of the WBA, WBC, and Ring Magazine titles, Ward is rapidly climbing the pound for pound rankings and solidified himself as the best super middleweight in the world.
Froch (28-2, 20 KOs), aka the Pride of Nottingham, fought with pride and courage, but could not overcome the brilliant boxing of Ward.
A feeling out round to open the fight could have gone either way as both boxers kept their guard up and did very little engaging, waiting to capitalize on one another’s mistakes.
Ward began to find his groove in the second round, landing a number of left hooks and found comfort fighting on both the inside and outside.
Froch had a pretty good third round, while Ward continued to slip and counter his every move. Ward slipped a jab and landed a nice right hand to the head drawing a reaction from the crowd.
From that point forward it was evident that Ward would win the fight as he continued to execute his plan over the course of the fight.
Froch was game late in the fight, showing that he wanted and needed a knockout to win. Ward avoided any potential late round danger with his continued display of defense and counter punching.
The three judges scored the bout 118-110, and 115-113 (twice). 115-113 was no indication of the performance Ward put on in front of the announced 5,000 plus in attendance.
Secondsout scored the bout 118-110 for Ward.
At the post fight press conference Ward’s promoter Dan Goossen praised his fighter, trainer Virgil Hunter, and the rest of the team for their handling of Ward.
Ward thanked God, his team, and everyone from the positive to negative media for the support, encouragement, and motivation to be where he is today.
Froch had not complaints or excuses, handling the loss with the class of a true professional, mentioning that Ward was very slick, tricky, and slippery.
Ward mentioned the possibility of fighting, not campaigning, at light heavyweight and continuing at the super middleweight level moving forward.
When asked about the potential of fighting Lucian Bute, Ward commented, "He needs to beat an A-level fighter first."
"We’ve all been fighting each other in this tournament and he sat back and fought B-level guys."
Although Bute is not popular among the Super Six fraternity of fighters for sitting out and taking easier fights, that seems to be the best and biggest fight out there for Ward, whether it be in Canada, or Las Vegas, which his team acknowledged as a city where they would like to fight.
Goossen commented at the press conference’s conclusion, "Viva Las Vegas."
Whoever is next for S.O.G. will certainly have their hands full wherever the fight takes place.
Yorkshire Welterweight Kell "Special K" Brook (26-0, 18 KOs) made his US debut against Luis "El Taino" Galarza (18-3, 14 KOs) of Antoich, TN in the ten round co-feature bout of the night. Brook, fighting a less than capable opponent for this level, dominated the fight for the first four rounds and finished off his opponent in the fifth with a flurry of punches that sent Galarza into the ropes. Galarza wanted to continue, but the result was inevitable. The stoppage was a bit pre-mature and the crowd obliged letting the referee hear their feelings. Time of the stoppage was 1:38. The confident UK native mentioned a few possible opponents, which included Philadelphia’s Mike Jones.
Undercard:
In an exciting fight, light heavyweight Cornelius White (18-1, 15 KOs) of Houston, Texas imposed his will on former Cuban amateur star Yordanis Despaigne (9-2, 4 KOs) of Coral Gables, Florida, scoring a well deserved unanimous decision. Both fighters shed blood and showed a great deal of heart, but White took the fight to Despaigne and maintained a more effective work rate. Scores were 59-55 (twice) and 60-53. Despaigne was scheduled to rematch Edison Miranda early next year, but White ruined those plans. Promoter Dan Goossen praised White at the post fight press conference, which was a well deserved moment of gratitude for the proud Texan.
Colombian Edison "Pantera" Miranda (35-6, 30 KOs) scored a fifth round TKO over Tampa, Florida’s Kariz Kariuki (24-10-2, 19 KOs). Miranda, known for his aggressive style, did a nice job of boxing and maintaining a tight defense, but still managed to land a number of big shots, wobbling Kariuki at times and sending him to the canvas in the fifth round with a left hook to the head. Kariuki’s mouthpiece flew out of his mouth, which enabled his corner to buy him a few seconds to clean it off as he rose to his feet. Miranda flurried soon after which was enough for referee Alan Huggins to see. The stoppage came at 2:15 of the round. The fight was scheduled for eight rounds.
Heavyweight Bowie "Bo" Tupou (22-1, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles earned a ten round unanimous decision overDonnell "The Real Touch of Sleep" Holmes (33-2-2, 29 KOs) of Ivanhoe, North Carolina. In a close fight, the action was fairly quiet as both boxers had their moments. Tupou scored a knockdown in the seventh round and finished strong in the tenth. Holmes unleashed a series of body shots to start the final round, while Tupou came back to land a number of right hands to the head as Holmes circled left making it easier for the fighter sporting the look of Mr. T. Scores were 95-94 (twice) and 96-93.
In a four round heavyweight swing bout, John Lennox (8-1, 4 KOs), of Carteret, NJ, brutally knocked out Trenton, NJ native Jeremiah Witherspoon (2-2, 1 KO) in the third round of their scheduled four. Witherspoon hit the canvas after a series of power punches that kept him lying there for a few minutes. Referee Randy Neumann wasted no time counting as he stopped the bout just 50 seconds into the round. The stoppage seemed a few landed punches too late.
In the walkout bout of the evening, Boyd Melson (7-0, 4 KOs) of White Plains, NY scored a third round stoppage over Harrisburg, PA’s Danny Lugo (1-3). Time of the stoppage was 2:01 of the round. The fight was scheduled to go six. The two junior middleweights fought in front of the few die hard fans that stuck around after the main event.