Ward's biggest chance: He's part of Showtime's 168 division tournament blockbuster

Examine.com10th July, 2009

Andre Ward will be fighting his toughest opponent yet in coming weeks. Make that toughest opponents, plural. Oakland's Ward is among the six elite super-middleweights Showtime has lined up for a multi-bout tournament.

The others include Mikkel Kessler, Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham (moving up from middleweight), all of whom are among the sport's most formidable champions, and two-time former champion Jermain Taylor, as well as Andre Dirrell, whose career has paralleled Ward's since their days as U.S. Olympic teammates in 2004.

Showtime and promoters Dan Goossen, Gary Shaw and Lou DiBella will spell out the particulars Monday with a press conference at Madison Square Garden in New York. It is believed each of the six 168-pounders will take part in at least three bouts, so that's nine fights among the six right there. Presumably the standouts in those bouts will then fight for championship recognition.

I can't recall a boxing tournament along these lines since the relatively motley eight-heavyweight tournament in the late 1960s that elevated Jimmy Ellis to the title recognition that had been stripped from Muhammad Ali.

Although Ward is now ranked No. 1 by the WBC and WBO, he's a bit green to be a favorite in this field. He and Dirrell are wild-cards.

I can't help noting that Kessler, Froch and Abraham are all based in Europe and that Ward, Dirrell and Taylor are Americans. Taylor was a 2000 U.S. Olympian. The most appealing matchups divide on those lines. I've read that Ward and Dirrell would meet early on, but I'm girding for Ward-Kessler or Ward-Froch (he's the WBC champion) right away, so that Ward can make his mark.

On the heels of Ward's thrashing of Edison Miranda in Oakland two months ago, a victory over Kessler or Froch would put Ward in the forefront of the tournament and might vault him into serious top-10 pound-for-pound consideration.

By Thanksgiving, yet.

THE FIELD: IBF Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs ); top-ranked 2004 U.S. Olympic Medalist Andre Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs ); WBC Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KOs ), WBA 168-pound Champion Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs ); former undisputed 160-Pound Champion Jermain Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KOs ); WBC/WBO No. 1-ranked 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward (19-0, 12 KOs ).

-->