View full size photo »

Michael Nelson assesses the performances of the Super-Six fighters heading into the last match of the tournament's group stage.

As with any extended project in boxing, Showtime's Super Six tournament is not without its hiccups. One of the original participants, Jermain Taylor, had to opt out of the proceedings after suffering another brutal knockout. There have been several postponements for various reasons.  And promoters continue to tussle over fight locations, specifically where the crucial Arthur Abraham vs Carl Froch match will take place, a matter that should've been mapped out before the tournament began.

But good fighters consistently testing their mettle against each other is never a bad thing. Even if a fight turns out to be disappointing, the knowledge we continue to gain about some of our sport's brightest is captivating.

Let's look at what we've learned so far about each fighter...

Arthur Abraham

Despite being a long-time title holder, Arthur came into the tournament relatively untested, as the middleweight division offered little in the way of strong challengers, and unification bouts with Kelly Pavlik and Felix Sturm never materialized. His performances against mostly over-matched opposition ranged from spectacular to lackluster. A continuing theme throughout his career is that he's a slow-starter.

He overcame another slow start when he knocked Taylor cold in the waning seconds of their bout last October. But that tendency bit him in the ass against Andre Dirrell, culminating in a disqualification as he overzealously made his patented late-round bull rush.

Putting the foolish late punch aside, the larger moral is that giving away a third of a fight against top flight competition is akin to the US soccer team constantly playing from behind - eventually, you've reached inside that well too many times.

Fortunately, he still has the biggest punch in the tournament, which allows for his fights to have a flair of drama, if not excitement. An attacking Abraham is one of the most menacing forces in boxing, so ramping up the aggression in his upcoming fight(s) may make him a tournament favorite again. For now, Dirrell knocked some shine off the hype he had coming in.

Andre Dirrell

Before the tournament, I tabbed the Flint, Michigan native as an explosive boxer who isn't afraid to stink the joint out. That assessment hasn't changed, as his fights with Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham parallelled his fights with Curt Stevens and Anthony Hanshaw. He was stinky enough for a third of the Froch contest to turn a lot of boxing fans off of him. Then he was dynamic enough for most of the Abraham fight to gain a measure of redemption. Likewise, his performance against Stevens had most claiming that they're boycotting the rest of his career, before he steamrolled Hanshaw in his next televised bout.

His athleticism is a problem for his opposition, and make no mistake, he's dangerous. His punches are sharp, quick, and powerful. But his tendency to run once fatigue sets in may leave him stuck as a polarizing figure. His fans will point to his unique blend of speed and power while his detractors will point to his lack of a fighter's mentality. Nevertheless, his talent makes him a legitimate threat to win the Super Six.

Allan Green

After months of barking, Ghost Dog had the bite of a Chihuahua against Andre Ward. Perhaps the excuse that he overtrained has legitimacy, but he's entering boy-who-cried-wolf territory. It's time for him to stop yapping about what could've been and should've been and prove that he belongs in the same sentence with the creme of the division.

That he got dominated by a fighter that dominated Mikkel Kessler isn't a disappointment in of itself. The lack of effort in a career-defining opportunity is what brings chagrin. Kessler went down swinging. Green? He got bullied along the ropes... and bullied along the ropes some more. That much-ballyhooed left hook remained harmlessly in its holster.

Three of the six participants had redeeming performances in their second bout. Hopefully, Green's effort against Kessler makes him the fourth (win or lose). Otherwise, his inclusion in the tournament is a waste of time.

Andre Ward

The big winner thus far. He was a clearly talented, but untested fighter with suspect whiskers a year ago. Then he handled Mikkel Kessler, the pre-tournament favorite, with shocking ease, before roughing up a listless Green. Now he's in the discussion among the top pound-for-pound fighters, which represents part of the charm of the tournament; with as much unbridled talent present, we knew a few of these guys would come out as stars in the making. Andre needs to continue his cerebral approach if he wants to keep ascending towards big money and acclaim.

One of the main revelations about Ward's style is his inside game. He neutralized Edison Miranda with it a year ago, used it in spots against Kessler, and dominated Green with it earlier this month. It's a hybrid of what (younger) Bernard Hopkins and Nate Campbell did in-close - both of those fighters did more damage, but Ward uses a similar smothering style to take his opponents out of their element. He presses his head against his foe's chest and chin to create space and agitate. He grabs and grapples with his free hand. He shoots short uppercuts and digs into the ribcage. It's rough, it isn't pretty, and the use of his head is borderline dirty. But it's effective, especially when few in the tourney have a polished inside-game.

Since he's tough to hit cleanly, he'll be tough to beat. The fighters in his way, however, all have the power and skill to further test those whiskers.

Carl Froch

Froch can be 2-0 or 0-2 depending on who you ask. He looked tentative at times against Dirrell and sloppy when he did turn up the heat (to be fair, when Andre's in stink-it-out mode, nobody in the ring's going to look good unless Salma Hayek's reffing the fight). In a low-contact bout where he seemed to lose the championship rounds, Froch was probably lucky it took place in Nottingham.

Carl was far more impressive in his losing effort against Kessler. He more than held his own in the jabbing game and Kessler had difficulty landing flush head punches. Kessler's activity may have given him the edge in an evenly-fought bout, but Froch displayed elite boxing acumen and defense against someone who was deemed to be superior in both areas.

Despite the lack of a convincing victory, Froch's grit, power, and guile still makes him a darkhorse to take home the trophy.

Mikkel Kessler

The 31 year old Dane had the meatiest resume going into the tourney, but he still had his fair share of question marks. The period between his megaclash against Joe Calzaghe in 2007 and his Super Six tune-up against Gusmyr Perdomo in 2009 was marred with contractual issues and inactivity. Despite being the betting favorite to come away the victor in Showtime's three year project, some wondered if he was still on top of his game.

Those rumblings grew much louder after dropping a lopsided technical decision to Ward. He looked like he was a step slow, and at times, lost against his fleet-footed adversary.

He bounced back well against Froch, not just with his trademark jab and straight right, but with pressure, combinations, and an unrelenting will. More impressively, he unveiled new wrinkles in his game; long known as strictly a head-hunter, Kessler slammed right hands into Carl's abdomen throughout the night. The tactic seemed to slow the hard-nosed Brit enough to swing the fight in Kessler's favor during the middle rounds.

His punching technique still looks a bit bedraggled compared to how it looked in his younger days. Perhaps that's due to the level of competition he's now facing. Or perhaps he's on the wrong side of his prime.

But like the five fighters before him, his quest for eminence is far from over.

e-mail Michael Nelson