Is Super Six the future?

This post was written for theboxingblog.co.uk

As we approach the second round of matches in the much vaunted Super Six tournament questions are once gain being asked whether the format is going to be the future of boxing.

For those of you unaware of how the tournament works each of the six boxers will fight three times, getting three points for a stoppage, two for a points victory, one for a draw and nothing for a loss. The top four then progress into the semi finals and the final in a straight knockout. The winner will become both the WBC and WBA Super Middleweight Champion.

I honestly believe that this s most certainly the way that boxing is going to go and I think that it is the right way to go.

Boxing is dying at a professional level. There is just not the appetite that there once was for the big fights. In this country we only ever hear about boxing if we go looking for it or if one of Britain’s fighters is competing.

The idea of tournaments in general and the Super Six in particular will, I believe, combat this malaise.

The modern sporting audience likes a good tournament. They like a good story, one that develops over time and most of all, they like a good rivalry. All of these have always been a key part of boxing’s popularity and all will be greatly enhanced if the sport embraces this new format.

At the moment, coverage of the Super Six is fairly poor with the rights held by US cable company Showtime. If HBO for example where to stage their own version of the tournament then I am certain that we would hear a lot more about it.

The viewing figures would go up, the media would cotton on to it and boxing will benefit all round.

Just think of the way that a tournament like this could work in a division full of stars such as Welterweight; Mayweather, Pacquiao and all would be placed together in a format that would build tension over matches, create situations never before seen in boxing, where a draw might be enough to land a title shot and generally catch the imagination of the public.

We can go even more extreme. Barry Hearn has shown us with his “Prizefighter” series that you can stage a tournament all on one night. Short fights with lots of punches are surely preferable to drawn out 12 round bores.

The rest of the sporting world has seen the future. Cricket has become shorter and faster, even snooker has started to move towards the abridged forms of the game. Yes, it might annoy a few purists but you can not please all of the people all of the time.

If we who love boxing want to see it return to anything like its strength of years gone by then we need to embrace the future, not be scared by it.

I can see very little in the way of alternative.