Dane a great bet at 5/2

By Derek Bilton

Sky Bet's Odds - 4pts on Mikkel Kessler to win the Super Six at 5/2 (Betfred). Great Dane has the class to be last man standing in what looks a terrific tournament.

4pts on Carl Froch to win by KO, TKO or Disqualification v Andre Dirrell at 15/8 (Sky Bet). Murderous puncher can exploit American's defensive flaws.

The Super Six World Boxing Classic begins this weekend with two cracking fights to kick off what on paper promises to be one of the most innovative and exciting boxing events in recent memory.

To the uninitiated the concept is set out thus. It's a modified round-robin tournament consisting of six fighters - Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Jermain Taylor, Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell - who will each box at least three times apiece.

A fighter earns three points for a KO win, two for a decision and one for a draw. The four fighters who end up with the most points advance to the semi-finals and from there it's a straight forward knockout event until a champion is crowned.

The promoters have done brilliantly to get round the negotiating table and make the event happen (not easily done when you have several different promoters, managers and fighters involved, each with their own ego and sense of worth). However it's the fans and the fighters who should feel the benefit.

For too long boxing has been derided because the best fighters are kept apart and as a consequence there is confusion among the public as to who the top men really are.

Yet once the dust has settled on the Super Six everyone in the world should at least know who the best super-middleweight is on the planet.

And for my money that's going to be 5/2 event jolly Kessler.

The 'Viking Warrior' has lost just once in 43 pro starts and that was against Joe Calzaghe, in Cardiff, back in 2007.

And even though he was beaten it wasn't as if Kessler was totally outclassed by Joe in the manner say, Jeff Lacy and Roy Jones were.

He actually started that fight very well and I had him up after four rounds before Calzaghe changed tactics and pulled away.

Kessler has won three times since in mediocre company and comes into the event as the reigning WBA super-middleweight champ. There is no real weakness to his game. He has a classic, upright European style and works off a high guard and fantastic jab. His chin is sturdy and with a KO ratio approaching 75% he obviously hits with authority as well.

At 30 he's still a fighter very much at the peak of his powers and although he gets a tough one to start (Andre Ward in America in November) he proved in beating Anthony Mundine handily in Australia a few years ago that travelling doesn't faze him.

Ward is a slick, cute box-fighter who is unbeaten in 20 outings and he can obviously fight a bit having won an Olympic gold medal. However at 25 one wonders if this tournament hasn't come a little early for him? Kessler is a big super-middle who punches hard with both hands. Even on away soil I reckon he'll be too much for Ward and I can see him going all the way, probably beating Froch in a mouth-watering final.

'The Cobra' opens his campaign against another unbeaten American in Andre Dirrell and even though he is boxing on home turf in Nottingham there are plenty backing Dirrell to spring a shock.

The 27-year-old southpaw is unbeaten in 18 fights and is one of the quickest, flashiest prospects out there. He's been talking a good fight ahead of this one and seems to have got under Froch's skin if Thursday's press conference was anything to go by.

Dirrell has rarely put a foot wrong since turning over in 2005 (he claimed bronze and the same 2004 Olympics where Ward struck gold). However this is his first real test as a pro and as Froch himself says, he is "in deep water".

Dirrell is unbeaten but Anthony Hanshaw had him on the floor and in trouble when they met last year before Andre pulled it out to win in five wildly exciting rounds.

Froch has proved he is one of the hardest punchers out there and an 80% KO ratio speaks for itself.

Recent form too has been excellent. In December last year Froch was involved in a Fight of the Year candidate against Jean Pascal for the vacant WBC title at 12st.

Pascal was unbeaten and has since gone on to win a WBC world title at light-heavyweight but on the night he was out-fought by a rampaging Froch, who turned 32 just recently.

In the first defence of his title Froch went to America to meet Taylor (who he will meet again in the Super Six) and the pair put on a battle for the ages.

Jermain dropped Froch in the third round and had built up a decent lead on the cards before 'The Cobra' finally got to him with just 14 seconds of the fight remaining.

The win announced Froch's arrival on the world stage proper and showed he really was the real deal.

For all Dirrell's bluster I expect Froch to win on Saturday and win in some style. We now know how good Froch is. He has proved it in his last two fights. We don't know how good Dirrell is. He is unbeaten and therefore dangerous but he's also untested at the very top level.

My hunch is that after a fast start he will gradually be broken down by the granite fists of the Englishman. Froch, a throwback fighter who will be roared on by a partisan home crowd in Nottingham, can pour it on to win inside eight rounds so Sky Bet's 15/8 about the him winning inside the distance looks more than fair.

Saturday night's other big Super Six fight in Germany between Abraham and Taylor looks less clear cut. Abraham is unbeaten but he is really only a middleweight and one wonders how a fighter who relies so much on his physical tools at 11st 5lbs will cope with the extra poundage. Taylor is ultradangerous. He has twice beaten Bernard Hopkins and is a former undisputed middleweight champ.

He was ahead and boxing beautifully before Froch caught up with him and if that defeat hasn't caused any lasted damage psychologically I wouldn't rule out him causing a shock in Berlin at 5/2.

However he's never boxed outside the US as a pro and might be unnerved by the hostile, pro-Abraham crowd at the O2 so I'm keeping my money firmly in my pocket for that fight and am just going to enjoy it as a spectacle.