SONAHR: MANCHESTER, UK – June 1, 2014 – With his emphatic rematch win over George Groves yesterday, IBF/WBA super-middleweight champion Carl Froch proved without a doubt that he is still the second-best fighter in his division. Now, that might seem like a back-handed compliment, or the proverbial ?damning with faint praise.? But that?s not the case when the best fighter among the super-middleweights happens to be a fellow named Andre Ward. That?s the same Ward who decisioned Froch three years ago to win the Super Six tournament and establish himself as one of the top three pound-for-pound pugilists in the world.
Ever since then, Froch has been aching to for another shot at Ward, who remains the WBA ?super? (don?t ask) and Ring magazine titlist. But late last year, Froch suffered a scare at the hands of fellow-Briton Groves, who knocked ?The Cobra? down in the first round and was apparently on his way to pulling off a huge upset when the referee controversially halted the fight in the ninth round, giving the champion a TKO victory ? and earning him a lot of ire from fans who believed the ending was premature.
With his surly behavior after the fight, and his initial refusal to give Groves a rematch, Froch suddenly found that his sky-high popularity in his home country had taken a nosedive. Groves may not have beaten Froch in the boxing ring, but he was kicking Carl?s ass in the arena of public opinion. And it?s hard to imagine Froch not wanting to prove that he is the better man. Whether Froch?s reluctance was pique or pose, a second encounter with Groves was inevitable. The demands of British fans could not be denied.
The big question going into this encounter was whether or not Froch?s struggles in the first fight were an indication that the wear-and-tear of the battles he waged before, during, and after the Super Six had finally caught up with him. And during the first three rounds of Froch-Groves II, it looked as though that was the case. Although he didn?t score a shock knockdown this time, Groves clearly outboxed his older opponent. It looked as though there might, indeed, be a changing-of-the-guard at the top level of British boxing.
But Froch is a fighter who needs a few rounds to rev up before his motor shifts to high gear. He was coming on when he stopped Groves in the first fight, and he began to cone on again in the middle rounds of the second one. Groves is good ? very good. But Froch is relentless, and in the eighth round, he landed a concussive right-hander that deposited the younger fighter flat on his back. Groves gamely got to his feet, but he was clearly in no condition to continue. This time, there was no outcry when the referee waved the fight off, giving Froch a soul-satisfying triumph.
So, now that he has put the upstart Groves in his place, what does the future hold for ?The Cobra?? Well, he still wants Ward ? preferably, in Britain, which is Froch-friendly again. He and Groves drew a phenomenal crowd of 80,000 at the famed Wembley Stadium in London. Imagine what the turnout would be for a rematch with Ward.
Ward seems disinclined to fight Froch again, having already proven his superiority in their first meeting. But the mega-bucks that Ward-Froch II would surely generate could prove difficult to turn down.
Other than Ward, there?s really not much competition left for Froch among the 168-pounders. He could move up to light-heavyweight, and risk getting his block knocked off by power-punchers Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson, or being bamboozled by Bernard Hopkins. Or he could wait for a middleweight star like Gennady Golovkin or Peter Quillin to move up to his division.
But if Froch is indeed fixated on getting Ward into the ring again, then it?s either Ward II or retirement. Either way, Froch will ultimately enter the International Boxing Hall of Fame the first year he?s eligible. It will be a well-earned honor.
