Gennady The Destroyer

Gennady Golovkin is a destroyer of men. One only needs to watch any of his last fifteen fights to figure such a thing out. His congeniality is offset by his sheer brutality in the ring. He hurts men, very badly, with a smile on his face.

For The Suits P4P Rankings: January 2013

It goes without saying: a lot changes in a year. In boxing that holds true more than in most sports. Although consistency and longevity are two greatly respected traits in the business, like many other sports, when you're dealing with boxing, as volatile ans fickle sport as any,  in which one's entire world can change with a perfectly delivered punch there is absolutely no guarantees. See: Victor Ortiz/Josesito Lopez or any planned future opponent of Canelo Alvarez' fight before the "big one" with Canelo.

2011 Fighter of The Year: Andre Ward

Let’s just get down to it: For The Suits boxer of the year is Andre Ward. I ain’t sugar coating it or gonna leave ya in suspense. There could be no other winner. With his emphatic win in the Super Six tournament Andre Ward cemented himself as the absolute best in his division and one of the best pound for pound in the world. I only wish the Super Six final would have got some of the press attention it deserved outside of the boxing world, but it seems as though unless it revolves around Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather the mainstream press does not care. These will be the same people that are talking as if they knew Andre Ward was going to be at the top of the sport a few years from now. At the moment he’s the fight fans hidden secret, a star simply beginning to shine. I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.

Super Six Conclusion

It has all come to an end, and although the outcome was what many had predicted, I don’t believe very many predicted such a dominant victory in favour of Andre Ward. On Saturday Ward cemented his status as a Top 5 pound for pound fighter. Everyone knew Ward was an incredibly talented boxer, one with a bright future, but the night of the Super Six final he put on an absolute masterclass in the sweet science. At every turn he was able to deny and frustrate the normally impressive Carl Froch and in the process made believers out of many (myself included).

My initial prediction was a Froch win by decision. In hindsight it seems like a ludicrous prediction as Ward was so absolutely dominate, but many experts before the fight were declaring a Ward win by decision in a close fight. The Oakland, CA born fighter ended up surprising almost everyone. Many thought he was good, many thought he was a better boxer than Froch but there’s very few who realized just how good he is.

Froch is a fighter known for always being game, occasionally imposing his will on opponents and showing sides of his ability no one thought were quite as advanced as they truly were. But he was unable to do anything of the sort Saturday night. He was certainly up for the fight, and the day we see the Cobra not willing to tear it up with an opponentwill be when we know he’s finished, but Ward kept him out of the fight almost completely. And any time Froch was able to hit some decent shots and take the fight to the inside Ward answered back and stood toe to toe. The fight wasn’t memorable in terms of action but I do believe it was Ward’s coming out party as one of the best in the world.

The big question fight fans are left with is where do we go from here? In my opinion there needs to be a fight between Lucian Bute and Froch sometime in the Spring. Many will say the fight that needs to be made is Bute versus Ward for 168 pound supremacy, but if we’re being honest Bute has not faced the level of competition Ward and Froch have over the course of the Super Six so I think his first test is against the runner-up in the tournament. Whoever prevails in that contest should face Ward next. Even if it ends up being a rematch between Froch and Ward, I do believe Froch is able to learn enough to make a second fight more competitive. As for who Ward fights in the mean time, I think the tune up fight is against whoever he decides as he now has that power. Anthony Dirrell is making noise about a WBC mandatory defense, and if Ward decides to go that route I think it’d be a good fight to make in the mean time.

Regardless of what happens now, 2011 has proven an interesting year in the fight game. Sergio Martinez and Andre Ward have both cemented themselves as the best in their weight classes and hopefully 2012 provides the opportunity for others to do the same.

Super Six Finale

[youtube=http://youtu.be/5dVjWYNZWRY]

This Saturday, the journey is at an end. Through its multitude of ups and downs, Showtime's "Super Six" tournament is finally coming to a conclusion and it is the exact sort of match up they would have wanted from the very beginning. It's also turned out that it's a fight fans are now clamouring to see.

Carl Froch. Andre Ward. Atlantic City. It has come down to this. Two very different boxers fighting for super middleweight supremacy. My prediction: Carl Froch by decision. That even to me feels like a bold declaration, but I'm not discouraged by the chorus of experts saying Andre Ward by decision.

Let me clear one thing up right away, I don't believe Froch is a better boxer than Ward. I believe Froch is a better fighter. I would have to be either blind or delusional to think that Ward is not the more talented of these two fighters, his proficiency for the technical aspects of the sweet science has been exhibited throughout this tournament. But Froch has displayed something I think is much more important: heart. He's shown an undying desire to impose his will on his opponents. He regularly fights away from home, opening himself up to the chance of suspicious losses by decision. He's gone up against a string of opponents that no one else in the sport right now can match. And he's made it to the final.

Froch will certainly have his hands full with Ward, but he's experienced adversity before. He's shown an ability to adapt and overcome as the situation calls for it and I think in the end that will make the difference. Regardless, it's going to be one hell of a night.

For The Suits P4P Rankings January 2012

It’s our first ever Pound for Pound list. Let the debate begin.