It's odd that in boxing so many things can turn on a dime. If Jermain Taylor had been smart enough to take a knee in the 12th round of the Froch fight, he would have won, and there would be no Super Six. Ken Hershman said that Showtime/Sauerland excluded Bute and Pavlik because including them would have cost to much. JT with the WBC title would be worth more than either of those guys, and HBO would have fallen all over themselves trying to get him back. Taylor's next fight would have been on HBO. Most likely a 3rd fight with Pavlik, a rematch with Froch, or a unification fight with Bute. Without Taylor the lack of American based star power would have made the tourney a tough sell. Carl Froch would have been a guy who won a vacant title, and lost it on the first defense. Kessler was toiling in obscurity and struggling with promotional problems. Without the certainty of the S6, Sauerland probably would not have been able, or willing, to invest in the guy. In this scenario there would be no Abraham/Taylor fight. AA wasn't well known to casual fans. He was just an obscure German middleweight. Ward was barely more than a prospect. Dirrell was just a kid with 18 fights, and no important wins. The realization that the Super Six only happened because Jermain Taylor wasn't smart enough to take a knee is pretty wild! 14 seconds, and no tournament!
Great read Boo. :good Who knows where everybody would have ended up now if Froch wouldn't have made that comeback. Great read. :good
It's just something I thought of earlier today. I had high hopes for the tourney, and while the honeymoon is over, I still think it can ultimately be very good for the sport. Without those 14 seconds, and that one dumb mistake, everything would be different.
I won't argue with your point. However Taking a knee while the smart thing to do is rare. I can't think of examples where this happened.
What you say is very true and an interesting point but not really unique. The sport lends itself to these scenarios, imagine if someone other than Steve Smoger was in charge of the Taylor and Pavlik fight. Had that fight been stopped in the second round people would have been dissatisfied but would accept that the better fighter won. What would our middleweight landscape have looked like since?
This is a very interesting point, but I would disagree on the ability of Taylor to take a knee. When he went down the first time he went down very hard, and was badly hurt. I think it's debatable whether he would have been capable of thinking that clearly when the next assault began. It's certainly a very interesting premise and would have potentially changed the whole landscape of boxing. And, like in the Bute-Andrade fight, the public would have demanded a rematch, which a smart fighting Taylor could have won.
When would Taylor have taken a knee becuase he got knocked down and then barley got up then was stopped. Taylors next fight would have been with Andre Ward his mandatory if the super 6 had been made. Ward would have always beat him.
You're right. It's not unique. One can point to many different occasions where a small thing created big changes in the boxing landscape. However, S6 type tournaments could ultimately become an important part of boxing. If they do, we will be able to look back, and see that 14 seconds changed the sport forever.
rafael ruelas was undefeated, got hammered on tuesday night fights back in the day in the 2nd round, got up quick, took a knee..3,4,5,6,7,8,9....10 he lost track of the count and got counted out ....kind of a bad example...but it was wild
