This is a recap to Showtime’s preview show for their Super Six World Boxing Classic, which starts next weekend.
They show ESPN writer Dan Rafael recapping when Ken Hirshman went to Germany to sort out the Super Six. Hirshman said that someone faxed the documentation to Rafael in an act of “ultimate betrayal” and could’ve hurt the possibilities of the tournament.
Carl Froch is putting his title on the line in the tournament. And he also has a super hot girlfriend.
They show the Froch/Jermain Taylor fight where Froch was knocked down for the first time. Froch wishes Andre Dirrell luck for coming to his home town to fight him.
He thinks they could put him and Mikkel Kessler in the ring inside a soccer stadium and sell it out.
Poor Gary Shaw expands a t-shirt nearly beyond its cotton fibers.
Boxing is in Dirrell’s blood as his grandfather and uncle were boxers.
Jermain Taylor says he was doing so well against Froch and he just got tired. Taylor says that the reason for his fatigue later in the rounds is because of cutting so much weight. So the doctors have told him to eat better. He says he has to change his training, his thinking, and his environment.
Arthur Abraham is moving up in weight to fight in the tournament. He says he was a fan of Mike Tyson, and he even named his dog after Iron Mike.
The first two fights are Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell.
Next time on the show, they’ll recap the two fights and go inside Kessler’s training camp.
My main issue with this show is they only had 18 minutes to get over four fighters. I enjoyed the look from the promoter’s perspective, but they should’ve done a show previewing each fight. I learned a little bit about everyone, but not enough to be truly intrigued if I wasn’t someone already into the tournament. The reason why HBO’s 24/7 does so well is because they are able to hit on many interesting stories outside of the fight. What I learned is that Carl Froch has a hot girlfriend, Jermain Taylor is on a diet, Arthur Abraham named his dog after Mike Tyson, and Andre Dirrell’s grandfather taught him all he knows. It’s not enough. This tournament could be huge, but they need to sell it that way.
I loved this show actually. It doesn’t quite have the glitz of 24/7, but I think it captures more depth. I found the way it documented the planning and negotiation of the tournament really compelling. You don’t ever really get an opportunity to see that side of things, and I thought it made for superb television.
I get the impression (and I could be wrong on this) that this show is aimed more towards a hardcore boxing fanbase. 24/7 creates a stand alone program which is really intriguing to watch whether you are interested by the fight itself or not. I think this is meant to be a bit more of a specialist idea; working off the basis that this tournament has created huge excitement amongst those who really know their boxing.
I think because of that, they are trying to present the tournament itself as the star of the show, as opposed to each of the individual fighters. (again i’m just assuming) the way the show is structured suggests that they are taking for granted the viewer knows how great each of these guys is already. The story is not about them, it’s about them being a part of this tournament. They want to get across that this is a really special event, and show you all the headaches and sacrifices which are necessary in order to make it happen.
Again, I could be wrong. That was just how I interpreted it. I’m not saying that this is the right or wrong way to market the show, but I thought it made for really insightful viewing.
So it could simply be for the hardcores, which I think is a complete mistake if it is, but even if it is, don’t we already know this story?
Why would they pretend like there’s some issue with Ward being in the tournament?
Even if we are hardcores, do we know interesting things about each fighter that might make us look forward to the event even more? I’ve seen everyone fight except Abraham I believe. And I’ve followed Ward from the Olympics. I know Froch a bit and who doesn’t know Taylor in the US. But still, it was like they spent a whole 2 minutes on the four fighters. Even the die hardest of the die hards don’t know everything about these guys.
I just can’t imagine why they would only do a 17 minute episode and make the entire 6 month process seem like a blur.
Oh well. I’m going to watch the tourney anyway, but I was hoping to get to know these guys a bit.