Andre Ward vs. Carl Froch for the Super Six Tournament Championship, & WBA/WBC Titles:
December 17th brings the conclusion to the turbulent Super Six Boxing Tournament as undefeated Andre Ward meets once-beaten Carl Froch in a unification championship fight. The pair meet in Atlantic City, and the winner of this bout will undoubtedly reign as the #1 fighter in the talent-deep 168 lbs division, facing a possible showdown with Lucian Bute in the near future.
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Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KOs)
6′ tall, 71″ reach, 27 years old
American
WBA Super Middleweight Champion
Andre Ward is widely regarded as the de facto top dog in the 168 lbs division, and the likely heir to Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones as the soon-to-be dominant figure at super middleweight. His status was established largely in his overwhelming points victory over Mikkel Kessler, a fight many (including me) picked Kessler to win. He also owns victories over Arthur Abraham, Edison Miranda, Allan Green and Saiko Bika. This former Olympic Gold Medal winner is a slick, well-schooled boxer-puncher with no real deficits, but his real strength is his adaptability and ring generalship. The defining characteristic of Ward’s style is his fluid tactical sense, which finds and then penetrates any weakness in an opponent’s style.
Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KOs)
6’1″ tall, 75″ reach, 34 years old
Briton
Two-time and current WBC Super Middleweight Champion
Carl Froch has made himself the #2 man in the super middleweight division the hard way: by fighting everybody. The Cobra owns wins over an old Robin Reid, former light heavyweight champ Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Arthur Abraham and Glen Johnson. His sole, hard-fought loss was to Mikkel Kessler. Like Ward, Froch is also a flexible boxer-puncher, but with an emphasis on the puncher side. Froch can brawl with the brawlers and punch with the punchers, but he has also shown himself able to stick the jab and box when he needs to.
Ward vs. Froch Preview & Analysis
I must admit to having mixed feelings about Andre “SOG” Ward. The guy has obvious talent and is a brilliant ring tactician, yet I find myself asking would I think he was the division’s #1 fighter if he hadn’t fought and beaten Mikkel Kessler. Ward has a decent punch, but nothing world-shaking. He is quick, but not as quick as Andre Dirrell. In my opinion, Ward has more graceful feet, but slower hands than Dirrell. I’m left wondering that if the pressure were upped enough, would his tactical sense crumble? Saiko Bika is a bottom-of-the-Top-10 fighter, whose main asset is his durability; Edison Miranda was already functioning as a gatekeeper by the time Ward got to him; and Allan Green simply isn’t a world class fighter. For his part, Kessler is a strong man, a hard puncher and a skilled boxer, but from the rigid, stand-up Continental style of boxing.
Froch, on the other hand, isn’t a lower-tier fighter or even remotely rigid. The man has shown some adaptability, and more importantly he has an iron will. The Cobra is more like a python, because he hangs in there, neither giving or nor letting go. In this fight, he is undoubtedly the stronger man and the bigger puncher, and Froch has a cast-iron chin. However, Froch also has well-established defensive deficits. Taylor was out-boxing Froch when the Briton pulled out a knockout in the last round; some thought Dirrell won their fight, and he certainly would have had Dirrell been more confident; Kessler beat Froch due in large part to superior technique. So, Froch is there to be out-boxed, but doing so is never going to be a cakewalk for anyone. Froch won’t quit and he won’t stop trying, so in his own way he will find an opponent’s weakness and put his power through it.
Ward vs. Froch Prediction
Ward vs. Froch will prove to be a messy night, in my opinion. Froch is there to be hit, and while Ward isn’t as speedy as Dirrell, he is quicker than Froch and has the skill and fluidity to stay out of trouble. Furthermore, Ward must stay one step ahead of Froch at all times. If he doesn’t, Froch will brawl and rough him up just like he did with Dirrell. Ward doesn’t have Dirrell’s speed or Taylor’s athleticism (prior to Taylor being ruined), so if Froch cuts off Ward, he cuts off Ward’s tactical options and leaves him to stand and trade. That is a place where Ward simply doesn’t have the physical gifts to prevail.
So, Ward will move, work the angles, stick, and move some more. Footwork is the key, and I think Ward can out-dance Froch. Ward is confident and focused, so I see him frustrating Froch all night and scoring plenty of clean punches, but never really hurting Froch. For his part, the Cobra will respond by trying to up the pressure, but being unable to land punches in bunches, Froch will instead resort increasingly to wrestling. In fact, he might go to the rough stuff from the very start in an (wasted) effort to fluster and intimidate Ward. Since this fight will be in Atlantic City, I expect Froch’s rough-housing to earn him a point deduction or two. I doubt Froch will be disqualified even if he persists, but whatever Froch gains by roughing up Ward will be lost due to fouling. The British fans will gripe about it, but rules are rules.
Prediction: Andre Ward UD 12
