Looking back at the tournament, it's a sad state of affairs.

This is true but Johnson IS good enough to be there. Green should never have been considered but what still a decent fringe contender.

Showtime have gone for a smaller format with the Bantam tourney, but an eight-man elimination would be even more intriguing and sort out the 'who is the best' mess there is in quite a few divisions. Getting all the belt holders in is necessary too IMO, though to a sane analyst it's clear to see Bute, Montiel and Do aire are doing their reputations damage whilst all their closest rivals battle it out for supremacy with each other.

 

I think the tournament has overall been good, the pluses outweigh the negatives just about.

In future though you just can not have them fighting every 6 months. Interest wains, the less attractive matchups that are inevitable become a huge deal because we're waiting so ****ing long. It has to be every 3 or 4 months.

 

I think so mate, I'm not down on the whole Super 6, Like I say, theres been some great nights boxing but I think before its done again it needs looking at and shortening.

Fighters just arn;t going to take 2 losses on the bounce and then have another tough fight on top of that. It just doesn't happen these days.

 

That's why the majority of fighters from nowadays aren't fit to carry the jock straps of fighters from yester year :yep

 

I know I'm coming across as a right negative ****er but even that suggestion, while making sense, goes against how boxers fight these days. Its just hard to implement when ultimately all the boxers and managers are just looking out for themselves.

 

You'll get no argument from me on that score Flea......not that you expected one though, eh?

 

Most lads have it nail on head really but my thoughts are

-This is first tournament of it's kind, did anyone foresee it going smoothly? we all said on the day of announcement that were shocked that fighters have put themselves in this tournament. We all tried to think how it would pan out.

-Hershman should be applauded because it's a magnificent idea, his only mistake is fact he rushed in and didn't think of certain consequences. But in saying that he's still handled the comp well when it reached it's lowest ebb.

-I feel for Hershman because he can't of foreseen Dirrell pulling a fast one, or Kessler pulling out with his injury.

-It's provided a FOTY, Controversy in AA-Dirrell bout. Unleashed a potential Super-Star in Ward.

-Fight Camp has been class and really fed into fighters personality's.

-It's tried to give Green a chance, he failed, Johnson took his and he could nip in and take a place in Final.

There's plenty to be learned (future super sixes) but this tournament was to see who be the last man standing and Now Froch And Ward are left standing from the Original Six (AA talking of quitting). It's a survival of the fittest and strongest and it's really proven it to be the burial ground of fighters. Brutal!

 

Yeah modern boxing is different. 30/40 years ago it would have been a roaring success but we've got a lot of greed and primadonnas. Nobody will fight through injury or adversity like they used to. I initially thought the fact fighters have the chance to redeem themselves would be a huge pluspoint but with the way the personalities are its been a negative. They've thrown their toys out of the pram and left.

 

This has been the biggest positive for me. It's separated the men from the boys. The pretenders from the contenders.

Showtime's only mistake was not having contingency plans in place for when fighters withdrew, which was inevitable.

 

for me it wasnt really about the tournament

it was the fighters fighting in it against each other

in that respect we've seen a lot of good fighters fight each other which is a great thing for the sport. the supermiddleweight division is a lot more structured that it would be without the tourney.

 

Credit to all involved in putting it together for having the vision and bravery to try something exciting and new, but it has turned out to be too complex and difficult to pull off. Too many injuries, too many replacements, too many arguments, too many selfish fighters and their teams.

 

whoever said bout last man standing and what ever, is spot on imo

 

The last two points are good.

We've seen a lot of good fights. I'm not sure we'd have seen so many of these fights ordinarily.

We've also sorted out the men from the boys. Froch has come out looking like a tough, tough man. Ward has proved his amateur potential, he was a complete nobody at the start remember, 10/1 odds. Kessler everybody derided for fighting too many patsies has fought 2 tough, tough fights and come out evens, not a bad way to end a career. Dirrell's lack of fighting heart has been shown up. Same for Abraham, well, Abraham's boxing has been shown up. We put the nail in the coffin of JT's career. We've done a lot for sorting out the division even if its not all fitted perfectly into the structure.

 

Thats it. You're not likely to get fighters to take a fight that doesn't make sense just "for the good of the tournament" or to prove themselves straight after a loss.

Thats how fans think, not boxers management teams.

 

:happy Its shown who the best were and shown us the truth about certain fighters.

It needs to be done across the board. 140 is pretty much doing it anyway with single fights, Welter has everyone chasing one guy, lightweight is proving the best tonight. Featherweight could do with something like this, as could middleweight (to create a perfect no.2 to fight Martinez) and Cruiser is doing it.

I think 4/8-man elimination is more feasible though. This tournament has really put it's fighters through the grinder, Froch has shown himself to have immense grit throughout.