The Super Six World Boxing Classic was a

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

tournament organized by the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

television network in co-operation with Sauerland Event. The tournament was held from 2009 to 2011, with all fights being contested in the

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

division. The winner of the tournament,

Andre Ward Andre Michael Ward (born February 23, 1984) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world titles in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), ...

, unified the WBA (Super title), WBC and ''The Ring'' Super Middleweight titles. The competitors entered into the tournament were then-WBA Super Middleweight Champion

Mikkel Kessler Mikkel Kessler (born 1 March 1979) is a Danish former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2013. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the WBA title three times between 2004 and 2013, and the WBC title twic ...

, then-undefeated WBC Super Middleweight Champion

Carl Froch Carl Martin Froch, (born 2 July 1977) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the W ...

, 2004 Olympic gold medalist

, former middleweight champions

Jermain Taylor Jermain Taylor (born August 11, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He remains the most recent undisputed middleweight champion, having won the WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine, a ...

and

Arthur Abraham Avetik Abrahamyan ( hy, Ավետիք Աբրահամյան; born 20 February 1980), best known as Arthur Abraham, is an Armenian-German former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight ...

, and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist

Andre Dirrell Andre Dirrell (born September 7, 1983) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF interim super middleweight title from 2017 to 2018. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 2004 Olympics. His younger bro ...

. Taylor and Kessler withdrew during the tournament and were replaced by former light heavyweight champion

Glen Johnson Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson (''né'' Stephens; born 23 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played predominantly as a right back. Johnson began his career at West Ham United, spending time on loan at Millwall, and was ...

and super middleweight contender

Allan Green Allan Lamar Green (born September 20, 1979) is an American professional boxer. He is a former NABO super middleweight champion, and has challenged for world titles at both super middleweight and light heavyweight. Amateur career Green had a ...

. The first matches took place on October 17, 2009. After three group stages, two semi-final matches were set. Ward defeated Abraham in the first, held on May 14, 2011. Froch defeated Johnson in the second, held on June 4, 2011. After Froch defeated Johnson, he was elevated to the number 2 rating by Ring Magazine. With Ward being rated number 1, the final pitted the number 1 and number 2 fighters against one another. This allowed for the Ring title vacancy to be filled at the tournament final. WBA Champion Ward beat WBC Champion Froch in the final of the tournament on 17 December 2011 at

Boardwalk Hall Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlant ...

, in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States.

Format

All bouts were scheduled for 12 rounds. The original format was based on a slate of six fighters who would compete throughout the group stage of the tournament, folding down to semi-final and final matches. The original format was adjusted due to numerous injuries and withdrawals amongst the original six boxers, and the insertion of replacement boxers at different stages through the tournament. The competition started with a group stage where each boxer was meant to fight three times. A boxer would be awarded three points for a win by knockout or technical knockout, two points for a win on points (or by disqualification), one point for a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

and 0 points for a loss. The top four from the group stage continued to the semifinals, matching the leader against no. 4 and no. 2 against no. 3. The winners of the semifinals then proceeded to the tournament final. The WBC Super Middleweight Championship and WBA Super Middleweight Championship were meant to be on the line for each of the champions' fights, resulting in the unification of the two at the conclusion of the tournament. Although this unification was potentially jeopardized by the withdrawal of former WBC champion

and the non-tournament bout between WBA (Super) Champion

and

Sakio Bika Sakio Bika (born 18 April 1979) is a Cameroonian-born Australian professional boxer. He held the WBC super-middleweight title from 2013 to 2014, and previously the IBO super-middleweight title from 2008 to 2010. In 2015 he challenged once for ...

which followed the withdrawal of

, both titles remained in the mix following the end of the group stage.

Participants

* Winner **

– tournament winner and WBA (Super), WBC and ''The Ring'' Super Middleweight Champion. Ward won the WBA title in his Stage 1 fight and defended it to the end of the tournament. Ward won the WBC title from Froch and the vacant Ring Magazine title by defeating Froch in the final. * Finalists **

– eliminated after defeat by Ward in the final. Froch was WBC champion entering the tournament, lost that title and then regained it during the course of the tournament. He carried the WBC title into the Final bout. *Semi-Finalists **

– eliminated after defeat by Andre Ward in semifinals. **

– eliminated after defeat by Froch in the semifinals, replacement for Mikkel Kessler after Group Stage 2. * Round Robin only **

– withdrew after Group Stage 1 **

– withdrew after Group Stage 2. Entered tournament as WBA champion and lost belt to Andre Ward in first bout; defeated Carl Froch for WBC title in next bout, but vacated title as he withdrew. **

– withdrew after Group Stage 2. **

– eliminated after defeat by Glen Johnson in Group Stage 3 Replaced Jermain Taylor after Group Stage 1.

Promoters

Lou DiBella Louis John DiBella Jr. (born May 17, 1960) is an American boxing promoter and television/film producer. Education DiBella is a graduate of Regis High School (New York City). He then continued his education at Tufts University before pursuing ...

(promotes Allan Green, Glen Johnson and formerly Jermain Taylor) * Dan Goossen (promotes Andre Ward) * Mick Hennessy (promoted Carl Froch prior to his fight with Glen Johnson) *

Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool (cue sports), ...

(promotes Carl Froch starting with the Glen Johnson fight) * Kalle Sauerland (promotes Mikkel Kessler and Arthur Abraham) * Gary Shaw (promotes Andre Dirrell)

Group Stage

Group Stage 1

Group Stage 2

Group Stage 3

Group Stage Table

Top four fighters – by points – at end of the Group Stage will enter the Knockout Stage. Following table shows final results from the Group Stage, after the final Group Stage bout of November 27, 2010. For completeness, results for the three fighters who have withdrawn from the tournament are shown, though their relative standing in the tournament is not applicable (n/a). ^ indicates former participant :''a. Andre Ward has 2 actual fights/wins, and was granted an additional forfeit win and 2 points due to the withdrawal of Andre Dirrell. :''b. Mikkel Kessler has: won 1 title, lost 1 title, and vacated 1 title due to injury.

Knockout Stage

Semi Final

Final

Controversy with Group Stage 3

A number of developments required multiple adjustments to the original plans for Group Stage 3. As of August 12, 2010, a venue had not been chosen and ticket sales had not started for the scheduled September 25, 2010 bout between Dirrell and Ward. This was expected to result in a new date for the fight. Instead, on October 7, 2010, it was reported that Andre Dirrell withdrew due to an undisclosed injury. This resulted in a decision to have Ward fight Sakio Bika in a non-tournament bout, which created the possibility that the WBA Championship could have been removed from the tournament. (Ward did defeat Bika, so the WBA Championship remained in the Super Six tournament). On August 25, 2010, Mikkel Kessler withdrew from the tournament citing an eye injury. On September 6, 2010, the WBC vacated its Super Middleweight Championship, announced that Kessler will be the first contender when he returns from his injury (naming him Champion Emeritus), and announced that it would grant its championship to the winner of the upcoming Group Stage 3 match between its number one contender, Dirrell, and the WBA champion, Ward, to be followed with a mandated WBC title fight against the winner of the Froch-Abraham match. The promoter for Abraham requested that the WBC rethink its determination that the WBC title should go to the winner of the Dirrell-Ward match. On October 6, 2010, a Showtime press release confirmed that the WBC would grant its championship to the winner of the rescheduled Froch-Abraham match. On September 13, 2010, it was announced that Carl Froch was suffering from a back injury and would have to delay his fight with Arthur Abraham, which had been scheduled for October 2. On September 29, 2010, it was reported that former

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

, IBO,

Ring Magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

and former

Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year ''The Ring (magazine), The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and has named a Fighter of the Year since 1928, which this list covers. The award, selected by the magazine editors, is based on a boxer's performance in the ring. The competition had started with a group stage where each of the "Super Six" – the world's top six super middleweight boxers – was meant to fight three times. With all the changes that occurred during the group stages, only Froch and Abraham actually fought the scheduled three bouts of the group stages, Johnson advanced to the semi-finals having participated in only one Super Six fight, and the Super Six Classic has been able to showcase a "Super Eight" of the world's super middleweight boxers.