There were, of course, glitches, not the least of which was the omission of Lucian Bute (30-0, 24 KOs), then as now the IBF super-middle champ, from the original six-man field. As the event progressed, three participants - Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell and Mikkel Kessler - dropped out, with Glen Johnson and Allan Green filling two of the vacancies.
Maybe the format was too complicated for everything to come off without a hitch, but a final pitting Ward, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Oakland, Calif., against Froch, from Nottingham, England, should prove worth the wait. When Froch scored a 12-round majority decision over Johnson on June 4 in Atlantic City, Ward, who was at ringside as part of Showtime's broadcast team, said, "If you put the best Carl Froch up against the best Andre Ward, you can't help but have a great fight."
And a great fight it should be, if somewhat delayed. Ward-Froch originally was scheduled for Oct. 29, but had to be pushed back when Ward suffered a cut over his right eye in sparring that required seven stitches to close. He's ready to go now, and his showdown with Froch qualifies as a pre-Christmas treat for fight fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
The winner probably will have to be matched with Bute to establish absolute dominion over the division, but what already has transpired should give the boxing world hope that internecine squabbles involving sanctioning bodies, promoters and broadcast entities need not prevent real fighters getting together to produce real champions. With a few tweaks, the "Super Six" format could be adopted in other weight classes where the public too often has been left to wonder who really is No. 1 among multiple alphabet champions.
