Credit: Hayemaker Boxing

In a YouTube video released on August 31st, Haye blames the failure to reach a deal for a showdown with Wladimir Klitschko on Klitschko's unreasonable financial demands. According to Haye, he entered negotiations on the basis of a 50-50 split. Klitschko rejected that, citing the stipulations of his German TV contract. Fair enough, Haye replied, and offered instead to make a different kind of 50-50 split. Instead of splitting the revenue in a common pot, Haye would get 100% of the British revenue and Klitschko would get 100% of the German revenue. According to Haye, Klitschko never responded to that offer, essentially letting it die on the table. That makes Wladimir Klitschko's de facto position one where he receive much more than half the money on offer. If he wants all the German TV revenue and a piece of the British action as well, then he wants most of the pie.

Given that Haye vs. Wlad is the only exciting heavyweight fight on the horizon, both men would make more money than any other opportunity on some kind of 50-50 split. By demanding the lion's share of the purse, Klitschko is ensuring that Haye won't make much more money than he would off of a more ordinary fight, and under terms like that why should Haye fight Klitschko? Klitschko might be the kingpin of the division, but the big Ukrainian simply cannot put butts in the seats west of the Rhine, and is therefore in no position to be demanding more than half the money.

Some commentators will continue to slander Haye's motives, but ultimately I think Haye is telling us the truth or something pretty close to it. The reason is simple: there is documentary proof of every offer, counter-offer and response involved in this negotiating process. If Haye said something that was untrue, Wladimir Klitschko would surely come out with the documents to prove it, and then repeat his charge that Haye was running scared. He hasn't and he won't. The truth is one of two sad old stories in boxing: either the money isn't quite good enough to make both men happy on fair terms, or one side of the equation (in this case, Klitschko) isn't really interested in making the fight happen and therefore never negotiated in good faith.

From the day he captured the WBO Featherweight Crown in 1996 until his early 2002 retirement, Naseem Hamed effectively was the featherweight division. His brash style and bone-crunching power made him the division's star, and when Hamed crossed over the Atlantic from his British base to begin fighting on HBO, he became the big money fight for anyone toiling away at 122 or 126 lbs. In the era when the Morales vs. Barrera rivalry was just developing and Manny Pacquiao was merely a blip on the radar, Hamed brought fans, fame and big money to the lower weight classes.

Credit: Anthony Neste - KRT Photos

The end of his career came suddenly, when Hamed was out-boxed and roughed up by Marco Antonio Barrera in 2001. By then Hamed had been slipping for some time. He fired Brendan Ingle in 1999, the man who had trained him from the age of nine. From that point forward, Hamed showed an increasing lack of focus, and in truth the Yemeni from Sheffield had probably lost much of his interest in boxing. He made no attempt at a comeback, and fought only once more so he could retire with a win at a youthful 28.

But what if Hamed's loss to Barrera had re-invigorated him, instead of encouraging the Prince to retire early? After another tune-up fight, followed by either a win in a rematch with Barrera or against another top featherweight, and by 2003 Hamed would have found himself squarely in the path of a rising tornado from the Philippines, the 25 year old Manny Pacquiao. It would have been an encounter between two southpaw featherweight punchers, yet of very different molds, and both in their prime.

The Formalities

No title is on the line, but as Pacquiao is almost unknown in the United States at this point, Hamed gets the champion's post and is introduced second. The Prince rides into the ring on a parade float-style Arab dhow, dismounts, spends 15 minutes slinking about to techno beats, and then flips over the top rope.

The Prince vs. Pacman

At the opening bell, Pacquiao makes his way across the ring and immediately beats Hamed to the punch. The Prince remains cocky on the surface, but begins backing away from his adversary, as this is the first time he has ever fought an opponent who can match or surpass his speed. Using his reach, speed and height, Pacquiao is able to score repeatedly, but not with his trademark right hook. Hamed's reflexes are too quick for that. Hamed drops Round 1 on all three scorecards.

Hamed also loses Round 2 and throws very few punches, but he begins to back up less and starts trying to time and counter the Filipino. The result is that Hamed catches his first Pacquiao hook, which deposits Hamed right on his ass. The Prince was always prone to knockdowns, but this was usually due to bad balance, and in this instance Pacquiao caught Hamed lunging in with a straight left. Hamed is essentially unhurt and smirks at Pacquiao as if he knows something.

Round 3 is more of the same. Back in the corner, trainer Emmanuel Steward implores Hamed to throw more punches. Hamed winks and says "sure." Pacquiao, confident, scoring more and having tasted none of Hamed's power, surges forward looking to put some hurt on the Yemeni from Sheffield. Pacman comes right at him and gives the Prince exactly what he wants. Hamed takes a quarter step into exactly the right place and turns his tree trunk-thick legs loose for the first time in the fight, felling Pacquiao with a straight left-right uppercut combo. The right uppercut lifts the Filipino off the canvas, twists him in mid-air, and sends him flying - literally flying - to the canvas.

Pacman has not been hurt so badly since he was knocked out by a body shot in 1999, and Hamed's British fans roar their approval as he dances his way to a neutral corner. Pacquiao struggles to his feet by the count of nine, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. It will later be revealed that two of his teeth were broken (not knocked out, but broken) by the uppercut. With 35 seconds to go, Pacquiao wisely covers up and clinches Hamed, refusing to give the Prince anymore chances to land his power.

The Prince Stalks His Prey

Pacman reverts to pure defense for all of Round 5, his legs made of rubber. His right jab is what saves him, as Hamed has trouble getting past the rapier-quick dart that is constantly shot in his face. It is little more than a slap, but because Hamed's hands are often down around his waist, it prevents him from seeing well enough to attempt to pound Pacquiao's body or drive his guard apart with a telephone pole straight left. Pacquiao starts re-asserting himself in Round 6, but loses that round as well.

Fed Into The Mincer

Round 7 sees Manny Pacquiao borrow a page from Marco Antonio Barrera's book - he steps in, fires a rapid three- or four-punch combo, and steps out. The problem is that at this stage in his career, Pacquiao lacks the footwork to consistently stick-and-move against the nimble Hamed (his balance might have been bad, but the man's entire defense was bound up in those feet, and prime Hamed was hard to hit on the move). Hamed keeps his hands low and eats a punch or two if it means he can slam one straight left or right hook into Pacquiao's body or face.

Unlike any of Hamed's past opponents, Pacquiao is quick enough to hit Hamed, even when Hamed does not want to be hit. Unlike any of Pacquiao's opponents, past or future, Hamed has the speed and reflexes to make Pacman miss about half the time, while the other half of the blows are at least seen by Hamed coming in. Pacquiao has never been a brute force puncher, but one who relies on speed and shock. So, he lands a lot of leather on Hamed in Rounds 7 through 10, but never quite manages to catch him with the surprise, electrified blow. For his part, Hamed manages to land only one counter-punch at a time, but that shot lands with the force of a mule kick. These rounds are also ugly to score, as it is a question of volume vs. effect.

The End

By Round 11, Hamed's face is a mess. His left eye is closing from eating right hook after right hook, limiting his vision. Pacquiao is slowing down, suffering from bruised ribs, and his mouth has never stopped bleeding. Yet with the heart of a champion, Pacquiao decides to turn up the pressure on the Prince and gamble. For the first time since the early rounds of the fight, the old-style Pacman offensive is on again. Hamed lurches backward, drawing Pacquiao in for a vicious right uppercut to the body. That shot never lands, however, as Pacquiao lands a double right hook that Hamed cannot see. Hamed's head twists with the force, and Pacquiao lands a lightning quick straight left onto his temple at just the right moment. Hamed collapses backward onto the canvas. He gets up by the count of seven, but Pacquiao catches his second wind as he sees his rival hurt. Swarming Hamed, he lands blow after blow, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

The stoppage came just in time. Hamed was leading on the scorecards, just barely, but Pacquiao needed to bag both Rounds 11 and 12 just to win a Split Decision. One of three judges scored Round 4 a 10-7, despite only one knockdown taking place. After the fight, Pacman was rushed to the hospital due to internal injuries. He won the fight, but took enormous damage in doing so. He would later say of the knockdown in Round 4 that "the only reason I knew I wasn't dead was because I was in too much pain."

Just as the loss to Barrera brought Hamed back to boxing, the brutal win over Hamed led Pacquiao to start improving his style. Instead of the raw, speedy puncher, the Filipino would begin to evolve into a polished boxer-puncher. Hamed would come back again, crush Marco Antonio Barrera in a rubber match, and then drop a points loss to Erik Morales before retiring. After perfecting his style against some mid-ranked featherweights, Pacquiao would challenge featherweight king Erik Morales and beat him twice. He would also fight Juan Manuel Marquez at 126 lbs., and out-point that Mexican as well.

After two and a half years in retirement, Erik Morales returned to the ring in March 2010, and now has the second fight of his comeback waiting for him on September 11th. Starting in 1997, "El Terrible" carved a path of destruction through the 122, 126 and 130 lbs. divisions. Morales was the man who dueled Marco Antonio Barrera in a trilogy that was essentially a campaign to win the hearts of Mexican fans and succeed Julio Cesar Chavez as the reigning king of Mexican boxing. In the last great performance of his career, Morales skillfully out-boxed current pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, becoming the last man to hand the speedy, hard-hitting Filipino a defeat. Morales clearly stands as one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all-time.

I must admit to being a huge fan of Morales. The man was a skilled boxer who simply loved mixing it up, even if it was not always the wisest course of action. A more fan-friendly fighting style and character is hard to imagine. Time and again, Morales would allow himself to be drawn into a slugging match and immerse himself in the sheer joy of pugilism. If the man had fought smart (ala Ray Leonard) and adopted a judge-friendly strategy such as boxing for the most part and punctuating the end of each round with a well-chosen exchange, he probably would have beaten Barrera in all three engagements and spared his body enormous wear and tear. Yet that was not the style of Erik Morales, and that is why his fans loved him.

His comeback gives me very mixed feelings. By all reports, the 33 year old Morales is not in dire financial straits, and I can easily see him returning to the ring simply because he is bored and he enjoys it. Both of his comeback fights have been against sub-par opposition in Mexico. Fighting for fun is not so peculiar as it might sound, as I have known a few boxers over the years who were semi-retired but kept their toes in, taking the odd fight for no other reason than they simply enjoyed it. If that is all that this is, then I wish Morales well and hope he enjoys himself.

Of course, the Morales comeback probably won't work out that way. Sometimes fighters ply the "dinosaur circuit," sticking with limited opposition or other old "name" fighters and therefore avoiding the worst risks, but more often they are lured into a fight with a young lion and become meat on the table. Morales has no business mixing it up with Top 10 fighters in the talent rich 140 lbs. division. If boxing actually worked out like it was supposed to, he never would because no top 10 fighter would be able to use a match with Morales to advance up the ladder to a title shot, and no champion would be able to defend his title against an unranked Morales. Yet it is easy to see ever-corrupt WBC President Jose Sulaiman giving Morales a #10 ranking or something on the basis of beating up a few journeymen, and then seeing the ugly spectacle of Erik Morales being demolished by the likes of Devon Alexander. Watching William Joppy beat up a virtually defenseless Roberto Duran in a 1998 WBA title fight is the kind of thing I'd rather sooner forget.

It is my hope that in his return to boxing, Erik Morales exercises the same wisdom he did in that 2005 bout with Manny Pacquiao. Restraining his love of glorious combat, Morales boxed Pacquiao right up until the final round. Then and only then did he risk everything by slugging it out with the younger, faster man. It was the way Morales would have always fought if he had been smart. It might have cost him a little popularity, but he still would have been a star and enjoyed a longer career to boot. If he shows the same sense now, no one should worry about Morales's health. If he plunges forward with the same reckless abandon boxing fans around the world loved, but also dreaded, I can only hope the end is merciful.

There can be little question that Mikkel Kessler has withdrawn from the Super Six Boxing Tournament due to legitimate health concerns. No one would ever accuse "The Viking Warrior" of ducking an opponent, and he was heavily favored to win his upcoming bout with Allan Green and secure a semi-finals slot in the tournament. With his departure, the question on the lips of boxing fans everywhere is "what now?"

Replacements?

Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime

Jermain Taylor bowed out after his first fight in the group stage, early enough that his replacement by Allan Green made some sense. Kessler must be replaced for the last fight of the group stage, which is not quite the same thing. Green had two fights in which to prove himself, but Kessler's replacement inherits a middle-ranking spot in the tournament and has only one fight to make a statement, and that is against the weakest link in the form of Green. It raises the very real issue of whether Kessler should be replaced at all.

Another problem is who can replace Kessler. Green was slated to square off with Sakio Bika to earn his slot, making Bika a natural choice. Given that Bika was just disqualified in his bout against the questionable Jean Paul Mendy, he is not exactly a good choice to replace the highly touted Kessler. In fact, there are only two fighters that could generate the buzz necessary to adequately replace the great Dane: Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal.

Bute, the only 168 lbs. champion to not participate in the tournament, is most unlikely to step into Kessler's shoes. Bute priced himself out of the tournament in the first place, so why would he want to enter it now for the same amount of money, a mid-ranking slot and just as much risk? Pascal is a hot commodity after dethroning 175 lbs. king Chad Dawson, and is really a super middleweight rather than a light heavyweight. Entering the Super Six would make him more money than anything else he has on offer right now, but he has a legal obstacle in the form of a contracted rematch with Dawson. So who else is there? The ever-flexible Paul Williams?

The Best Choice

The problem facing the tournament is clearly bigger than merely replacing Mikkel Kessler. The real issue is that the entire Super Six Tournament is taking far too long. Attrition has already removed two of the original six from the mix, and Carl Froch was very close to dropping out of the tournament rather than face Arthur Abraham. The tournament is in danger of collapsing under its own weight, and needs to get moving if it is to continue to a decisive conclusion.

The best choice at this point is to advance directly to the Semi-Finals stage with the two fights that are already scheduled and not in danger: Andre Ward vs. Andre Dirrell and Carl Froch vs. Arthur Abraham. These are the four that have been with the tournament from the beginning, and all four deserve a slot in the semi-finals more than any replacement for Kessler.

No new addition to the tournament could honestly claim to have earned a slot in the semi-finals on the basis of one fight, so skip the formalities and get on with it. Appease Lou DiBella with a World Cup- or Olympics-style "loser's bracket" of some sort that Green can participate in, or guarantee Green a shot at the ultimate winner. Sauerland still has Abraham in the mix, and therefore does not suffer much from losing Kessler. Keep the existing fights for the sake of simplicity, and stage the final bout later this year. Moving forward now, and not replacing Mikkel Kessler, is the fairest and most practical option for saving the Super Six Tournament.

The three men fought many of the same contenders in an era that was rich with talent, and so the period beginning with Floyd Patterson winning the crown in 1956 to Ali's being stripped of it in 1967 was one of the liveliest eras in heavyweight history.

1. Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali: Ali started his career-long practice of fighting everybody worth fighting in the early-to-mid 1960s. Before winning the title, he over-powered the great Archie Moore and defeated the redoubtable Doug Jones. Ali scored one of the great upsets in sports history by first making the much-feared Sonny Liston quit on his stool, and then knocking him out in the rematch. He out-boxed and stopped Floyd Patterson, pounded out a points victory over uber-tough George Chuvalo, beat Briton Henry Cooper twice, humiliated Ernie Terrell, and knocked out Zora Folley. Only a few contenders from the era escaped a confrontation with the withering speed, grace and power of the youthful Louisville Lip.

2. Sonny Liston: For those who discount Liston as a great heavyweight, think on this. Many think this rangy, 6-foot, 215 lbs. man was the most powerful heavyweight who ever lived. George Foreman based his own brooding, hard-hitting style on Liston. The guy knocked out Cleveland Williams twice, stopped Zora Folley, out-pointed skilled boxer Eddie Machen, and tossed Floyd Patterson around like a rag doll. Simply put, to beat Liston you needed to be fast, able to take a punch, and hit with enough authority to keep the big guy wary. No one in the era had the right blend of elements to tame Liston except Clay.

3. Ernie Terell: Most people remember Ernie Terrell as the boxer who Ali taunted with "what's my name sucka!?" as he was mercilessly beaten. Standing 6'6", Terrell was in reality a rangy, skinny heavyweight and one of the best fighters of the latter part of this era. He went 1-1 with Cleveland Williams, and unlike Ali, Terrell met Williams before he was shot and lost a kidney. Doug Jones, Eddie Machen, George Chuvalo and light heavyweight legend Bob Foster were among his other victims.

4. Floyd Patterson: Like Clay, Patterson was another early bloomer. When he won the title, Floyd Patterson was the youngest man ever to have done so. When he beat Archie Moore to accomplish this feat, Moore was actually the bigger man, outweighing Patterson by half a dozen pounds. His reign as champion wasn't much to speak of, as it was dominated by his trilogy with Ingo Johansson (who never did much after that) and his two crushing defeats at the hands of Liston. It was after losing the title for good  that Patterson bloomed due to his efforts to win it back. He beat Machen, Chuvalo and Cooper, but lost to Ali.

5. Cleveland Williams: Like Terrell, Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams is often remembered in connection with the whipping he received at the hands of Muhammad Ali. Ali's win over Williams is often cited as Ali's best-ever performance, which is an utter travesty when one realizes that Williams was just a shadow of himself by then. In November 1964, Williams was shot by a policeman and lost a kidney. Prior to that, he was a 6'3" punching machine that slugged toe-to-toe with Sonny Liston twice, earned a draw with Eddie Machen, and scored a knockout over Ernie Terrell. When the two met in a rematch, Terrell beat Williams, but only on a narrow Split Decision. "Big Cat" was a tough customer who saw his career cut short. If Williams had not been shot and enjoyed a longer stretch of good health, I would pick him to beat some more of the era's contenders, including good odds against Floyd Patterson or a rubber match with Terrell. As it is, he enters the Top 5 of the era at #5.

Honorable Mentions: Eddie Machen, Zora Folley, George Chuvalo, Archie Moore, Doug Jones, Ingo Johansson.

I find it hard to fault the resume of Manny Pacquiao. There have been moments when Pacquiao side-stepped the best opposition, such as when he fought David Diaz in 2008, instead of seeking out Nate Campbell, Juan Diaz or even a rubber match with arch-rival "El Dinamita" Juan Manuel Marquez. Still, I don't fault him for that. Sometimes fights are dictated by promotional or financial considerations, and only a fool forgets that boxing is a business first and foremost. Also, when a guy spends most of his career taking on the toughest A-List opponents out there, every so often that man is due a break with a journeyman or a B-Lister.

Yet I find I cannot write the same thing of Pacquaio's November bout with Antonio Margarito. Nothing justifies it. I am not one of those people who thinks Margarito should be permanently banned from the sport. Plenty of very experienced, sagacious boxing figures with no interest in Margarito have come out and said that the Mexican fighter might have had no idea his wraps were packed with plaster, and barring proof that he did know, he has suffered enough. Margarito's trainer should be banned for life, but not Margarito himself.

My problem is that Margarito doesn't deserve a shot at a world title or a big money engagement with Manny Pacquiao at this juncture, but plenty of other fighters do. Since Floyd Mayweather wants nothing to do with the speedy Filipino, the next best challenger is Andre Berto. However, if Pacquiao would prefer an easier opponent and a bigger share of the purse (something I will forgive him for, as previously described), why not Luis Carlos Abregu? Or Luis Collazo? Pacman could drop down to 140 lbs. and seek a kingly sum for a fight with one of the hot names in that division, such as Bradley, Alexander and Khan. Why not give every fight fan their next best choice after a showdown with Mayweather, namely a rubber match with Juan Manuel Marquez?

Instead of any of those fights, we get Antonio Margarito instead. Margarito beat up a journeyman in a light middleweight contest in May, but otherwise he hasn't done anything since his knockout defeat at the hands of "Sugar" Shane Mosley. That was the defeat that brought the plaster issue to the world's attention, and the truth is that no one has any idea whether Margarito's fearsome reputation is worth anything now that his fists aren't faced with masonry. Combine that with the cloud that still hangs over him, and it becomes clear that Margarito has no challenging for a world title or collecting a huge pay day until he has proven himself to be a viable contender. This fight is going forward solely because Bob Arum promotes both Pacman and Margarito, and Margarito is the sole "name" welterweight Arum has left who has not already fought with Pacquiao. Bob Arum's greed is not a good enough reason to justify this fight. Let Margarito fight an Abregu or Collazo first, and then let him dance with Pacman.

A few of the major boxing websites are merely marketing tools for a given manager or promoter. These sites publish mostly press releases and interviews with their guys, and their guys alone. When these camouflaged bits of marketing hackwork do anything else, those actions are limited to trashing the boxer who beat one of the guys in their stable. Mouthpieces like these are not sources of news and should stop behaving as if they were. Plenty of promoters or managers run openly promotional sites, so why pretend to be anything else?

Other so-called boxing news sites fail to make the mark at the editorial level. Everyone makes mistakes, but some boxing news sites -- including a few that are very popular -- publish material with no copy editing whatsoever, leaving glaring typographical, grammar and even factual errors. The same sites show little or no editorial steerage, publishing half a dozen articles on exactly the same subject and expressing exactly the same information and opinions, and too often all half dozen articles come from the same author. Proboxing-fans.com may publish fight previews and post-fight commentaries on the same subject at times, but they at least present the material from different angles.

Another issue stemming from this lack of editorial standards is that it often seems like anyone who is a crony of the editors can publish, even if the writer in question clearly doesn't know that a southpaw leads with a right jab rather than a left.

Quality on the internet is becoming a serious issue. According to many alarmists working for dying newspapers around the country, the internet is awash in garbage media products and is destroying the real news. Just ask the Internet Content Syndication Council (ICSC), an organization with some high-powered members that is pushing for internet content standards such as the basic quality-control step of footnoting articles.

I don't think turning the internet into an academic paper, where no one who isn't a professional journalist working for a national newspaper can be taken seriously without citing a major media source written by (you guessed it) a professional journalist working for a national newspaper, is the answer. However, the ICSC does have the right idea when it endorses full disclosure of the writer's or publisher's interest in a given topic. That notion has been widely adopted or was already in force with many internet media companies, such as Demand Media and Associated Content.

Sadly, these issues are infiltrating the world of boxing news sites, and many of them now fall far short of the mark and reveal serious ethical flaws in the process. My own yardstick for integrity and standards is Secondsout.com. The website does not place an amateurish premium posting ten articles a day in order to maintain an ever-fresh front page. Every article is sagacious and well-written, and Secondsout.com presents a reasonably complete, balanced picture of professional boxing.

Since I first discovered it years ago, the further a website gets away from the magazine-like Secondsout.com model and set of standards, the worse I think the site is. Sadly, that describes many a boxing "news" site in operation today, but fortunately not Proboxing-fans.com.

Much to the surprise of many observers (including this one), Jean Pascal whipped Chad Dawson in their WBC Light Heavyweight showdown. This sort of upset should raise the question if Chad Dawson was perhaps overrated. After all, if Dawson was as good as most thought him to be, even Pascal having the best night of his career should have faltered before Dawson on the worst night of his career.

Credit: Richard A. Esposito

Pascal's biggest surprise was that he was, in fact, faster than Dawson. He also had a smart game plan that left Dawson with no answers. Pascal won the battle of the footwork, which enabled him to zip in and out on Dawson's much longer reach without undue risk. He shut down Dawson's rangy jab with counter-hooks.

Finally, Pascal was the busier fighter. All of that effort drained Jean Pascal, and Dawson was catching him more and more in the later rounds. Maybe Dawson would have knocked Pascal out had it not been for the cut that ended the fight. The ultimate point is, however, that if Chad Dawson were the bad ass he is often made out to be, he would never have found himself in the position of needing a knockout to win a fight against the likes of Jean Pascal.

Let's face it: the light heavyweight division has not been talent deep for 30 years or more, and it is easy to look fantastic against sub-par opponents. Dawson is most celebrated for his wins over Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver. Johnson was a guy who was whipped by everybody and was little more than a middleweight journeyman ten years ago.

He shocked the world by knocking out Roy Jones, but Jones was clearly a shell of his former self by then. Johnson's other claim to fame is his 1-1 record with Antonio Tarver, who is also best known for... his fights with the shadow of Roy Jones and tussling with Glen Johnson.

In other words, Dawson's best wins are over two guys whose best wins in turn were over each other and Jones. Dawson also beat Tomasz Adamek, who is doing well at heavyweight, but has yet to fight a solid contender and therefore can't be said to have done much since losing Adamek. The bottom line is that it was easy to make Dawson into something he was not.

Then let's look at Jean Pascal. At super middleweight, Pascal was a fringe contender who couldn't get much in the way of career traction. However, super middleweight is a talent-deep division and Pascal did fight someone who clearly has the right stuff in Carl Froch. Froch's boxing style might be limited, but his power, toughness and will to win have established him as a top fighter in a division that is bursting with talent. Being a fringe contender in a strong division is a bigger statement than being the king of a weak one.

I am not writing that Dawson was a paper champion, but to a certain extent Pascal exposed him. Pascal's victory was no fluke. Stopping to rationally appraise what wins over old guys like Johnson and Tarver mean must yield the answer "good, but not great." Yet with the mystique of beating guys who beat Roy Jones (no matter how faded) in the air, Dawson became a world-beater.

This is why it was such a shock to see Pascal consistently beating Dawson, supposedly a speed demon, to the punch. In overestimating Dawson's resume, everyone overestimated Dawson. Everyone, that is, except Jean Pascal.

The third and final stage of the Super Six Boxing Classic opens on September 25 when Mikkel Kessler defends his newly-won WBC Super Middleweight Title against American contender Allan Green. This is an up-or-out fight for both men, and as a result the outcome vis-a-vis the Super Six tournie far outweighs the green strap of the WBC (much to the chagrin of Jose Sulaiman I'm sure). Kessler is 1-1 with no knockouts in the tournament, and needs a win to advance to the semi-finals. Green inheirited Jermain Taylor's slot and stands at 0-2 in the Super Six, so to have even a prayer of advancing to the next round he must not only beat Kessler, but earn three points by beating the "Viking Warrior" in a knockout victory.

Allan Green (29-2, 20 KOs)
6'2", 73" reach, 30 years old
American

Allan "The Ghost Dog" Green has two things going for him: power and toughness. Green is a formidable puncher, and that he can also take a punch was displayed in his fight with the Colombian thug Edison Miranda. Although Green lost that fight, he was able to absorb Miranda's artillery and give back as good as he got. He was thoroughly out-classed by Andre Ward, who befuddled and overwhelmed Green and made doing so look easy to boot. However, it must be said that Andre Ward also made beating Mikkel Kessler look easy, and that Green managed to force the action on the inside at times against the slick, adaptable Ward and ended the fight on his feet despite absorbing serious punishment. Once again, Green can take a punch and give it back in spades, two qualities that only a fool would ever discount.

Mikkel Kessler (43-2, 32 KOs)
6'0 1/2", 72" inch reach, 31 years old
Former two-time super middleweight champion, current WBC super middleweight champion
Danish

Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime

Mikkel "The Viking Warrior" Kessler is arguably the most well-rounded, seasoned middleweight in Europe today. His two losses were at the hands of the great Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward, a fighter who looks well on his way to becoming an all-time great himself. In the win category, he has beaten a host of contenders and fringe contenders, and in his last outing he defeated Carl Froch to take both Froch's "0" and his WBC belt. Kessler is a strong fighter with good pop and a good chin, but most of all he is a technically sound, well-schooled and seasoned fighter in the linear, stand-up Euro-style of boxing. I have always felt that while that style is a tad robotic, it has a big advantage when it comes to the scorecards. If there is one thing the Continental European style of boxing does well, it is land straight punches that all the judges can easily see. Time and again, that has given Kessler an edge on the scorecards.

Kessler vs. Green Preview

With his superior skills and methodical approach, there is little doubt in my mind that Kessler will be able to establish his jab and box Green from the outside for the most part. Green should be able to find a way inside and make a brawl of it, however. If he could to that to Ward, he can do it to the Viking Warrior. The question then becomes what happens when Green starts landing those bombs?

The answer is not much. Green is a puncher, but so is Carl Froch. Froch hits as hard or harder than Green, and he landed a good amount of blows on Kessler's chin. Kessler was stunned at times, but never seriously hurt. Green will need to put together solid, clean combinations of power punches to put Kessler on the canvas, but he lacks the speed and skill at working the angles to do that. So, Green will come in and produce some fiery exchanges for a few rounds, but Kessler will shut that down with his sheer strength, adjust and start sticking the jab again. Green, who has never shown much of a Plan B, will drop almost every round after that. Add the judge-friendly style of Kessler to the hometown crowd cheering him on, and the result is a foregone conclusion.

Kessler vs. Green Prediction

Mikkel Kessler UD12.

Sergio Mora is a well-rounded customer. He has good movement, good work rate, fast hands, is awkward on the inside, durable and packs a good punch. The latter might seem an odd statement to make about a guy who has only six knockouts to his name, but if you look at Mora's record, you will see that half of it is over solid journeymen in six and eight round fights. A guy like Mora wins knockouts by attrition, and it's hard to grind a tough guy down in six rounds. The middle of Mora's career was spent on the first season of The Contender (which he won) or following up afterward against Peter Manfredo, Jr. Vernon Forrest (who was murdered about a year ago) probably was under-trained in the first bout with Mora, but even so, Mora still owns a win against a guy that a prime Mosley was never able to tame.

Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs)
5'9", 74" reach, 38 years old
Former Lightweight, Welterweight and Light Middleweight Champion

Mosley's record is well-known, so rather than repeat it, I prefer to focus on his most recent performance against Floyd Mayweather. Mosley looked old in that fight. He still had the kind of power to put him within just one punch of knocking Mayweather clean out, but he wasn't able to pull the trigger and land that punch. The Sweet One also lacked the stamina to up the ante, press the action and force another opportunity to clock Mayweather. The real question with "Sugar" Shane is how much does that apply now? Mosley had not fought for almost a year and a half leading into the Mayweather fight, so rust is a serious option. Also, the "getting old" stage for fighters is marked by inconsistent performances. If the Mosley who gave Antonio Margarito shows up instead of the Mosley who was bedazzled by Mayweather, Mora could be in for a terrible night.

Mosley vs. Mora Preview

There are many pertinent questions to ask about this fight. "What does Mosley have left in the tank?" is an obvious one. Not so obvious is "can Sergio Mora make weight?" Mora is a 160 lbs. fighter, and campaigned as such until he got his opportunity to fight Forrest. Mora only barely made weight for his second bout with Forrest, and fighters who struggle with the scales are known to wilt under pressure. For Mora, it isn't that he doesn't stay in shape between fight camps. Mora is just really too big to make 154 lbs. easily.

It is that size that poses the worst of problems for Shane Mosley. A tall, hard-working, awkward fighter is a well-established bad combination for Mosley. While Mora isn't Vernon Forrest or Winky Wright, he has many of the elements that are proven to give Mosley headaches. Putting Mosley in the ring with Mora is simply awful matchmaking, since even a prime Mosley would have a hard time with a guy like Mora.

Mosley vs. Mora Prediction

Mosley will come out like dynamite after the opening bell, looking to put the sweet stamp of authority on Mora. However, Mora will soon, if not establish control, at least make himself felt with his combination of height, speed, movement and work rate. When Mosley tries to disrupt Mora by coming in, The Latin Snake will expertly tie him up. However, Mora will tire in the later rounds, drained by making weight and having to wrestle with such a strong opponent as Mosley. If Mosley has anything substantial left in him, that will be when he gets back in the fight, but it will be just a little too late to do any good.

Mora by a close, but Unanimous Decision.