Super Six Superfight in Oakland

Perhaps the most intriguing contest of much-publicized Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament’s Group Stage One takes place tonight at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, as hometown hero Andre Ward attempts to dethrone WBA Super Middleweight Champion, and tournament betting favorite, Mikkel Kessler. Both fighters weighed in on Friday afternoon before a lively audience at the Hilton Oakland Airport, just a brisk walk away from the place of their showdown tonight.

With the other two Americans, Andre Dirrell and Jermain Taylor, having lost to their Super Six counterparts Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham respectively, Ward will look to score the first points for the sake of the U.S. in the tournament. Ward, the WBC #1/WBO #1/WBA #7 ranked super middleweight, will also look to become the first of his 2004 U.S. Olympic teammates to win a professional world title. Both Dirrell and Vicente Escobedo failed in title bids earlier this year. Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) is the United States’ only gold medalist boxer from the last three Summer Olympiads.

Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs) of Copenhagen, Denmark has been at or near the top of the super middleweight division for the better of the last five years. Originally claiming the WBA title with a seventh-round knockout of Manny Siaca in 2004, Kessler made four successful defenses and added the WBC belt, before suffering his lone pro loss to Joe Calzaghe in a super middleweight mega fight in 2007. Kessler rebounded seven months later to reclaim the vacant WBA title and make three straight title defenses. Kessler is nearly universally regarded as the current top 168-pound boxer in the world.

Entering this week, it appeared as though the final Group Stage One pairing would have the smoothest road to fight night. Both Kessler and Ward have been sportsmanlike throughout the entire pre-fight build-up, complimenting each other at every opportunity, while still exuding confidence in their own capabilities.

After the announcement that two California-based judges and a referee had been assigned to officiate the bout, Kessler’s promoter Wilfried Sauerland expressed his displeasure and there was talk that the WBA may not sanction the 168-pound title bout. “Not all the judges can be from California,” Sauerland told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “If it stays like this, definitely there won’t be a world championship on Saturday. We have a really serious problem.” Eventually Swedish judge Mikael Hook was named to join South African judge Stanley Christodoulou and Californian Steve Morrow. Respected California referee Jack Reiss remains the third man in the ring.

By the time Kessler and Ward stepped on the scale Friday, all the talk of cancellations, protests and non-title bouts felt like a distant memory and all that remained was the feeling that is was a “big fight,” the San Francisco Bay Area’s biggest in many years. The challenger Ward, shredded, stepped on the scale first to a large ovation and weighed in at 166 ½ pounds. The respected champion Kessler, a chiseled super middleweight in his own right, scaled 167-pounds.

Heading up the undercard is a rematch of an action-packed bout from March of last year, as undefeated light middleweight prospect Karim Mayfield (10-0-1, 6 KOs) of Daly City, California gives Francisco Santana (11-1, 5 KOs) of Santa Barbara, California the opportunity to avenge his only defeat in a scheduled eight-rounder. In their first bout, Santana had Mayfield in trouble in the fourth, but could not put the Bay Area native down. Mayfield turned the tables in the sixth, almost dropping Santana en route to a disputable six-round split decision. Mayfield weighed in at 151 ½ Friday, while Santana scaled 150 ½ pounds.

An oft-scheduled bout between former WBO #1 ranked welterweight Jose Celaya (31-5, 16 KOs) of Salinas, California and former pro football player Tony Hirsch (9-3-1, 5 KOs) of Oakland will finally come to fruition Saturday, as they are scheduled to square off in a six-round super middleweight bout. The two were originally scheduled to fight in March at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California before the fight was pulled without an explanation. Their bout was rescheduled for July 30th at the El Monte Expo Center in El Monte, California, but Hirsch was pulled from the card in favor of Freddie Norwood, a former 126-pound champion, who ended up scoring a decision win over Celaya. Hirsch weighed in at 164 pounds, while Celaya scaled 166, before the two met in a heated face-off.

Rising lightweight prospect Stan Martyniouk (7-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California takes on late replacement Anthony Martinez (21-32-3, 9 KOs) of Turrialba, Costa Rica in a four-round bout fought just below the light welterweight limit. Martyniouk’s original opponent, Theron DeLorme, was a late scratch and the assignment was handed down to Martinez, who has pretty much made a career out of these situations. Martyniouk enters the fight off of a six-round unanimous decision win over Jorge Marquez on September 12th. Martinez, who challenged Acelino Freitas for the WBO Super Featherweight title way back in 1999, has lost ten straight bouts, but failed to last the distance in just nine of his career losses. Martyniouk scaled 136, while Martinez weighed in at 138 ½ pounds.

In the opener, former amateur standout Mel Crossty (3-0-1, 1 KO) of Cincinnati, Ohio will meet Carlos Herrera (2-2, 1 KO) of Oxnard, California in a four-round super featherweight fight. Crossty, last seen fighting to a four-round draw with Jaime Rodriguez at the Oracle Arena in May, weighed in at 130-pounds. Herrera, winner of two straight, scaled 130 even.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBA Super Middleweight Championship, 12 Rounds
Kessler 167
Ward 166 ½

Light middleweights, 8 Rounds
Mayfield 151 ½
Santana 150 ½

Super middleweights, 6 Rounds
Hirsch 164
Celaya 166

Light welterweights, 4 Rounds
Martyniouk 136
Martinez 138 ½

Super featherweights, 4 Rounds
Crossty 130
Herrera 130 ½

Kessler-Ward Photo by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.