Andre Ward has been the breakout star of Showtime?s Super Six World Boxing Classic, but he hasn?t been the only competitor to drastically increase his ?Q? rating as part of the super middleweight tournament.
Photos by Tom Casino / Showtime
While Showtime has spent a considerable amount of time and effort to salvage the tournament, dealing with injuries, retirements and unfortunate circumstances the most consistent competitors have been the most interesting (and appealing) subjects to date. Ward may come out of the tournament smelling like roses, he?s gone from relative unknown to potential pound for pound consideration and given some hope to the naysayers who yearn for the days of impressive American champions. But, for my money it?s been Carl Froch who has really stolen the show.
Heading into the Super Six, Froch was coming off an impressive and gutsy performance against Jermain Taylor that proved to everyone in attendance at Foxwoods that night that you simply couldn?t count someone out before the final bell. Froch was not considered by many (myself included) as a legitimate contender to win the Super Six. He doesn?t appear to be particularly quick, he doesn?t strike anyone as particularly strong, his mechanics won?t wow you, and his head movement is practically non-existent. Honestly, go back a year or two and watch Carl Froch, he didn?t at the time (and still doesn?t) do anything that is particularly mesmerizing, but he was a winner and in hindsight his run through the Super Six probably shouldn?t have been that shocking.
Unlike Ward, Froch hasn?t had the easiest road to this position. His first bout against Andre Dirrell was a sloppy, uninspired fight that was recognized more for the clutching, grabbing and running than it was for the technique or boxing on display. Froch wound up taking the victory though his performance gave everyone who doubted him the ammunition that he were looking for to be able to say ? ?see Froch isn?t a legitimate threat.?
Surprisingly it may have been his first career loss that really endeared Froch to boxing fans. With consecutive wins over Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell it may seem strange to say that Froch became more of a threat in a loss, but that is just what happened after Froch dropped a close decision to Mikkel Kessler in Kessler?s backyard in April 2010. The Kessler-Froch bout was the fight of the Super Six (to this point), and showed that Froch has the toughness to really put on a slugfest against one of the best in the division and sometimes it?s more important to put on crowd pleasing fights than to win fights like the Dirrell Super Six fight. Froch lost his WBC super-middleweight title against Kessler, but the war took Kessler out of the tournament and Froch moved forward with new fans and newfound lease on the Super Six.
Froch?s third bout against Arthur Abraham showed that the power differential between a middleweight and super middleweight was huge and after a relatively one sided beat down of Abraham, Froch was moving on as the #2 ranked fighter in the Super Six and with his WBC super-middleweight title back around his waist.
On top of showing three different styles in three different bouts, Froch has also shown himself to be pretty engaging. His persona on Fight Camp 360 has been a bit of a breath of fresh air compared to some of the other guys on the show. We?ve probably got to known Froch better, or more, than anyone else on the show. We?ve seen Froch grow, essentially moving from a single man in a relationship with a super model, to a married, father ? I mean who else in this tournament has progress that far in both their career and personal lives at the same time?
Froch seems poised to advance to the finals of the Super Six against Andre Ward after his bout this Saturday night in New Jersey against Glen Johnson. Johnson is the perfect opponent for Froch who has really improved his recognition in the U.S. with crowd-pleasing fights because Johnson will stand right in front of Froch, slug it out, and ultimately lose. Saturday night should be a very crowd pleasing event, and it should help Froch continue to increase his visability and grow his fanbase in the U.S.
I think we?ve reached the point now where Ward may be the odds on favorite to win the Super Six, but Froch may be the crowd favorite when the final bout takes place. Ward has been mechanic in his destruction of the competition in the Super Six tournament. He?s come from nowhere, but shown such skill in winning his bouts that they haven?t been very crowd pleasing (though much of that has to do with the competition he?s faced). Froch on the other hand has had the more difficult road, but it?s been a more fun road to travel and while Ward may be the more talented fighter, Froch is likely the more fan-friendly of the two.
With all due respect to Glen Johnson who is a respected fighter who has an amazing career, I don?t think it?s out of line to be rooting for Carl Froch this weekend. Glen Johnson ? Andre Ward is a decent fight, but Carl Froch ? Andre Ward is a great fight, probably the best fight that you could possibly have at super middleweight, and I?m including Lucian Bute in that conversation. As a boxing fan you want to root for Carl Froch on Saturday night so that you can see a great Super Six finale, but for a sport looking to capitalize on ?characters? Carl Froch is the best case scenario for Showtime, and boxing.
