According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the proposed six man, round robin Super Middleweight tournement will come to fruition this fall.
Showtime announced six fighters would be present at a New York Press Conference: 168-pound titleholders Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KOs) of England and Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) of Denmark; middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs) of Germany, who is moving up in weight; former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KOs) of Little Rock, Ark., and rising American super middleweight contenders and 2004 Olympic medal winners Andre Ward (19-0, 12 KOs) of Oakland, Calif., and Andre Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs) of Flint, Mich
“The six fighters, who have a staggering combined record of 161-4-1 with 117 knockouts, their respective promoters, and Ken Hershman of Showtime will all be on hand for this historic press conference,” the press release said.
Although Showtime has been tight with details, ESPN.com obtained a copy of the master contract, which outlines the particulars.
The tournament, which will consist of nine preliminary bouts followed by the semifinals and final, begins Oct. 10 and is supposed to finish in May or June of 2011.
Win or lose, the six fighters will each fight at least three times with the top four advancing to the semifinals based on their point totals. Fighters get two points for a win, an additional point if it’s by knockout and one point for a draw. There are all sorts of contingencies for situations such as a no contest or a tie in points. Contractually, mandatory bouts cannot interfere with a tournament fight.
The tournament is scheduled to begin with a split-site doubleheader on Oct. 10. In England, Froch will face Dirrell and in Germany, Abraham will face Taylor.
On Nov. 7, probably in Oakland, Kessler will defend against Ward. Other matches include Abraham against Dirrell in January in the U.S.; Froch against Kessler in March in Europe; Ward against Taylor in spring 2010 in the U.S.; Ward facing his Olympic teammate in summer 2010 in the U.S.; Froch against Abraham in summer 2010 in Europe; and Kessler against Taylor in the U.S. in fall 2010.
The semifinals would take place in January 2011 with the final to be held in the U.S. in May or June.