SONAHR: HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – July 18, 2015 – Recently, standout super-middleweight Carl Froch announced his retirement from the ring. He departs minus his WBA and IBF world titles, which had been stripped from him by those august organizations due to inactivity. But Froch can hold his head high as he hangs up his gloves at the age of 38, with a 33-2 record featuring 24 knockout wins. He fought everyone of consequence within the 168-lb division, losing only to Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward. Although he later avenged his loss to Kessler, Froch was never able to secure a rematch with Ward ? a fight Froch wanted more than any other. That frustration might have been one of the factors that led him to step down.
Provided he resists the siren song of a comeback, Froch will be a sure-fire inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, which falls in 2019. He?ll deserve that honor. He is a great fighter. To his misfortune, however, his career played out in the shadow of a pair of transcendent talents: Ward, and rival British boxer Joe Calzaghe.
When Calzaghe wore the super-middleweight crown in the early and mid-2000s, Froch was a young up-and-comer nipping at the older fighter?s heels. But Calzaghe wouldn?t accommodate Froch?s ambition. Instead, he moved up to light-heavyweight, where he won another world title and ultimately retired undefeated. To this day, Froch is certain he would have taken Calzaghe?s ?0,? and he still believes Calzaghe ducked him. Calzaghe, of course, disagrees.
However, the unavenged loss to Ward and the unfulfilled challenge of Calzaghe do not in any way detract from Froch?s stellar credentials. As a participant in the ambitious 2009-2011 Super Six Super-Middleweight Classic, he battled a Murderer?s Row of tough opponents, including Kessler, Andre Dirrell, Arthur Abraham, Glengoffe Johnson and ? in the final ? Ward. Before the Super Six, Froch had also defeated Jean Pascal and Jermain Taylor. Few fighters these days can sport such a sterling resume. If there really is a ?School of Hard Knocks,? Froch is a PhD graduate.
It was after the Super Six that Froch achieved his greatest victory: a five-round demolition of Lucian Bute in 2012, who was at that time undefeated and carried a reputation as a knockout artist along the lines of present-day light-heavyweight terror Sergey Kovalev. But Froch made Bute look tentative and vulnerable, and the one-time beast hasn?t been the same since absorbing that beating.
For all his bravado, though, Froch could not escape the wear-and tear his wars exacted, and in his last two fights ? both stoppage wins over British upstart George Groves ? he looked vulnerable. Indeed, he went down heavily in the first Groves fight late in 2013, and the referee?s decision to stop that fight with Groves on his feet was sharply criticized. Froch left no questions in the rematch, though, rendering his younger rival flat as a pancake.
Then came inactivity, and the alphabet organizations? title-stripping routine. In truth, Froch?s options were limited. He could have continued to press for a Ward rematch. Or, he could have moved up to light-heavyweight in a confrontation with Kovalev. Another possibility was a showdown with middleweight monster Gennady Golovkin. However, when you?re 38, and your name isn?t Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Bernard Hopkins, challenges such as those are very daunting indeed.
It?s far better for Froch to leave the game while he?s still at the top ? the whims of title-sanctioning organizations notwithstanding. He goes out as one of the best fighters of his time. Short of a revenge win over Ward, that?s as good as it gets.
