Former super middleweight champion Nigel “The Dark Destroyer” Benn remains a fan favorite in Britain, who venerate the violent, two-fisted approach that powerful warrior took to demolishing his opponents in the ring. The standard bearer for the rough-and-tumble style of British boxing today is Carl “The Cobra” Froch, so it must have come as a surprise to British fight fans when Benn picked the other guy in Froch’s fight this Saturday, Andre Ward.
Benn told BBC Sport “I fancy Ward to win it. He’s very slippery, a very good fighter. Don’t get me wrong, Carl’s a good fighter, a strong guy, and it will be a close fight, but Ward will edge it.” Benn is a former 160 lbs and 168 lbs world champion, and is best remembered for his rivalry with Chris Eubank and his tragic, savage encounter with Gerald McClellan.
Benn’s expectations mirror those of most experts, including myself and the rest of the staff at ProBoxing-Fans. The consensus opinion is that Ward has the stuff to outbox Froch. Furthermore, many experts believe that if Froch should make the fight into a phone booth war, he won’t have it all his own way in the exchanges, as Ward has shown himself to be a capable infighter.
British fight fans also seem to recognize how the circumstances stack up for Saturday night’s Super Six Tournament closer in Atlantic City, as Andre Ward is a 2-1 favorite with British bookmakers. Betting Britons are talking with their money, and they say Ward will win.
Regardless of what British fans seem to expect, however, I doubt they will stay quiet if Ward pulls out a win on Saturday. Froch used dirty, rough housing tactics to fluster a hesitant Andre Dirrell in their 2009 clash. The result was, in the eyes of everyone except the British, a close, ugly and controversial fight. Froch obviously got the win that night because he was in his literal hometown of Nottingham and he didn’t lose any points for his illegal rough housing, two points most British fans (and even experts) flatly deny.
Froch won’t enjoy the first advantage at all in Atlantic City, and odds are good (although not certain) that the refereeing will be stricter as well. In my book, the only thing with better odds than Andre Ward carrying Saturday’s fight by decision is that British boxing forums will be full of accusations of biased refereeing and hometown judging come Sunday morning.
