Report: WBC Will Cooperate With Super Six World Boxing Classic

One of the things I wondered about when Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic was announced earlier this week was whether or not it may help push the sport's sanctioning bodies further into irrelevancy.

By that I mean that many fans will recognize the winner of the tournament as the world champion at 168 pounds. That'll be true no matter what happens to the various alphabet belts in the meantime and despite the fact that several other worthy super middleweights (Lucian Bute for sure, possibly Allan Green and Sakio Bika) are not participating.

With that in mind, it's interesting to see that one sanctioning body with something at stake - the WBC, since Carl Froch is its 168-pound titleholder - is going to play ball with the Classic. In his blog entry yesterday, ESPN's Dan Rafael reported that the WBC has given its support to the tournament, meaning they probably won't shaft Froch (or anyone who might beat him) with any silly mandatory defenses while the event is going on.

Rafael correctly points out that the WBC is likely doing so out of its own financial self interest and that it's not hard to take that stance right now because its top three contenders for Froch's belt (Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell and Jermain Taylor, in that order) are also in the Super Six. It's easy to do the popular thing when it's also what's best for you.

The true test will be after the first round of fights. I don't pretend to know exactly how the WBC board figures out its ratings, but if, say, Dirrell beats Froch and Ward beats Arthur Abraham, that would likely mean that the WBC would want the former Olympic teammates to fight each other next.

Or if all three Americans lose their first fights (which is certainly possible), that could make someone like Karo Murat or Green the No. 1 contender. Would the WBC continue to defer to the tournament or would it try to exert some influence on the proceedings? I suppose it could always hand out the ever popular interim belt, which is currently vacant at 168.

It will also be worth keeping an eye on the IBF, who apparently is making Mikkel Kessler fight a crappy mandatory before he even starts his tournament run, and the power behind the sport's most respected set of rankings, The Ring. The magazine's super middleweight championship is currently vacant, and without its No. 2 man Bute involved, it may stay that way throughout.

Posted by The Franchise