The Best Unofficial Tournament

The Best Unofficial Tournament
By Andrew Schweitzer

Many of you know how I feel about the recent troubles that Showtime's "Super Six Series" has been facing (And if you don't, shame on you) and with the recent withdrawal of Andre Dirrell and the announcement that Sakio Bika would be his replacement has me just smashing my head against a table. Couldn't they just wait at least a few days until after Lucian Bute knocked out Jesse Brinkley before deciding to go with Bika? Nothing against Bika personally but who would you rather see in the tournament right now going against front-runner Andre Ward:

A) The undefeated IBF Super Middleweight champion who is regarded as the best man not in this tournament and could draw a huge crowd in Quebec?
 
B) Sakio Bika?
 
If anyone answered "B", your next UFC PPV is waiting for you.
 
So with this recent development, it's kinda hard for me to want to get behind the Super Six. It started out with so much promise and most of it has fizzled away. It must be disappointing for the folks at Showtime while at the same time bringing big cheers at HBO. At the moment, they've got the best tournament going on...and it's not even official.
 
The 140 pound division has all the makings of a great tournament and it was widely thought that HBO was eventually going to form a four person elimination style tournament similar to the middleweight tournament they had back in 2001. And in that division you've got quite an array of talent:
 
1) Timothy Bradley (26-0, 11KOs). Currently the WBO champion
 
2) Amir Khan (23-1, 17KOs). Currently the WBA champion
 
3) Devon Alexander (21-0, 13KOs). Currently the WBC and IBF champion
 
4) Marcos Maidana (29-1, 27KOs).
 
Just look at the records and you'd think, "Holy crap, that makes a great tournament!"
However it's not happening...and yet it is.
 
Currently Amir Khan is scheduled to defend his title against Marcos Maidana on December 11th in Las Vegas and Timothy Bradley is scheduled for a unification bout with Devon Alexander next year at the end of January. There's no doubt that the winners will be able to avoid each other.
 
What I'm hoping though is that the winners, before facing each other, don't end up fighting Victor Ortiz. I really don't like Victor Ortiz. I didn't like how they were billing him as the next Golden Boy, I didn't like how he quit against Maidana (Bad ending to what was a good fight) and I don't like how he's recently been fed a diet of old and faded fighters but he might make a good showing in his next bout against Lamont Peterson so we'll see if my opinion changes any.
 
Now that I think about it, if you were going to throw Ortiz into the mix, the one fighter I would like to see him go against is former welterweight champion Zab Judah, who has been campaigning in the division he once held a title in. That would be a good match-up and we would see if Zab has anything left in him (Which I think he does).
 
You must be wondering, "OK, Andrew, is this unofficial tournament happened, how do you see it ending up?"
 
Glad you asked. When it comes to Bradley/Alexander, I think that Bradley just has more experience, natural ability and aggression to make Alexander's titles his own. But remember, Devon Alexander has power, as we saw in his fight against Juan Urango so don't be surprised if Bradley gets dropped before winning a comfortable decision.
 
Next we have the power punching Argentinean with no title, Macos Maidana against the power punching Brit with no chin(?), Amir Khan. Did Breidis Presscot (The man who handed Khan his only loss via a first round KO) just have Khan's number that night? It's possible, however none of the fighters he's face since that loss, aside from an old Marco Antionio Barrerra, were known for their devastating power (Paulie Malinaggi, anyone?). But one thing that Khan does also possess is excellent boxing ability and the guidance of master trainer Freddie Roach. Don't be surprised if Khan outboxes Maidana and wins by a wide majority.
 
Down to the finals, Bradley vs Khan. Champion vs Champion. This is probably a tough decision to make but if I had to pick a winner, I would put my money on Timothy Bradley. I just think that he has enough to pull out a close but clear decision and leave the ring as the undisputed light-welterweight championship and maybe a big payday fight against Manny Pacquiao. 
 

Andrew Schweitzer is a contributing writer for boxing4free.com. When not writing or discussing the sweet science, Andrew is either at the gym or work. Currently Andrew be found at the local Dairy Queen, hoping to get his weight into the double digits.