Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic is coming down to crunch time as we enter Group Stage 3. So far, it has been a lot of fun with some very interesting fights.
Only super middleweight titlist Andre Ward, who is 2-0 with two dominant wins and four points in the tournament, has already secured a place in the semifinals.
The five other fighters in the field -- Mikkel Kessler, Andre Dirrell, Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch and Allan Green -- all remain alive and have a chance to claim one of the three remaining semifinal slots. The two guys who don't make the semis will be eliminated.
The last of the round-robin stage of the tournament begins Sept. 25, when Ward defends his belt against Dirrell at an American site to be determined and Kessler defends his belt at home in Denmark against Green on the same day. On Oct. 2, Froch and Abraham hook up in Monte Carlo, after which the final four will be set.
But the field is so bunched up right now that ties are a very good possibility and a tiebreaker mechanism is needed.
Abraham is 1-1 and has three points, courtesy of the bonus point for knocking out Jermain Taylor (whom Green later replaced) -- although he can guarantee himself a semifinal berth with a knockout of Froch. Dirrell, Kessler and Froch are each 1-1 with two points apiece and very much alive. And Green, even though he is 0-1 and has no points, can still sneak into the semis with some help.
So it's time to take a look at the tiebreaker scenarios, which you should keep in mind as you watch the Group Stage 3 bouts unfold. Here's how it works:
• If two boxers are tied in points after the Group Stage bouts, the seeding will be determined as follows:
1. Head-to-head: If the tied boxers fought each other, the winner of that bout will be seeded above the other.
2. Knockouts: If the two didn't fight head-to-head or if they fought to a draw, the boxer with the most tournament KOs/TKOs will be seeded above the other.
3. Scorecards: If they remain tied after the KO/TKO test, then the seeding is determined by the judges' total scorecard points earned by the fighters from each of their Group Stage bouts. The boxer with more overall scorecard points will be seeded above the other.
• If more than two boxers are tied in points after the Group Stage bouts, the seeding will be determined as follows:
1. Knockouts: The boxer with the most tournament KOs/TKOs will be seeded above the tied competitors.
2. Scorecards: If two or more boxers remain tied after the KO/TKO test, then the seeding is determined by the judges' total scorecard points earned by the fighters from each of their Group Stage bouts. The boxers will be seeded from highest total scorecard points to the lowest.
A word about the scorecard tiebreaker: The boxers who win prior to the final bell (meaning a KO/TKO/DQ/technical decision, etc.) earn 10 points for each incomplete round. Those who lose earn eight points in a KO/TKO round and nine points for each subsequent round.
In other words, let's say Ward knocks out Dirrell in the 10th round. If that happens, the judges' scorecards will be used for the first nine rounds. Then Showtime will give Ward 10 points for the knockout round and 10 points apiece for the two rounds that did not take place to give him a complete scorecard while Dirrell would get eight points for the 10th round and nine each for the 11th and 12th rounds. The idea is to make sure everybody is credited with the same number of rounds.
Also of note, Green inherited Taylor's scorecard points from his loss to Abraham.
Through Group Stage 2, here are the scorecard points earned by each fighter:
Ward (713)
Dirrell (690)
Kessler (679)
Froch (679)
Abraham (677)
Green (658)
If there are still ties after all of the tiebreakers play themselves out, it will come down to -- a la the NFL's playoff scenario -- a coin flip.
http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/5453402/super-six-tiebreaker-scenarios-set
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