Andre Ward will be part of Showtime?s announcing team Saturday for the Carl Froch-Glen Johnson semifinal bout in the Super Six tournament, and you wonder if he?ll say something that comes back to haunt him in the Super Six final.
So far, Ward isn?t showing either of his potential opponents in that finale any favoritism. “It?s a 50-50 fight,? Ward says of Saturday?s 9 p.m. bout in Atlantic City, in which Froch will be defending his WBC super-middleweight title. ?I wouldn?t be surprised if Carl Froch dominated Glen Johnson, and I wouldn?t be surprised if Johnson pulled the upset.?
Not likely, if you consider that flighty Allan Green was leading Johnson on the scorecards after seven rounds in their Super Six quarterfinals match last fall before Johnson (51-14-2, 35 knockouts), coming down to 168 pounds at age 42 after years at 175, scored a rabbit punch that led to a knockout in the eighth. Froch is faster than Johnson and will be able to hit him. Froch will win by a no-doubt decision.
Surely Froch (27-1, 20 knockouts), who easily outpointed Arthur Abraham in the quarterfinals, would be a much more entertaining opponent for Ward in the final. Yes, Froch could have come out 0-3 instead of 2-1 in his bouts with Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell and Mikkel Kessler (his lone conqueror), but all of those bouts were close and no one could ever say Froch stopped trying. He nailed Taylor in the 12th in their pre-Super Six middleweight meeting. Advertisement
Unlike each of Ward?s recent victims, from Abraham and Kessler back to Henry ?Sugar Poo? Buchanan, Froch won?t go into a shell after the fourth round if Ward should dominate him early. And Froch will say caustic things and cast himself as grittier than Ward. He may even quarrel with Bay Area writers. It could be great fun.
“Mentally, I?m prepared to fight either guy,? Ward says ?The fans want to see Ward and Froch, but it is Froch?s job to take care of his business and uphold his end of the bargain, and Glen Johnson will have something to say about that on June 4.”
Yeah, yeah, and after that, bring on Froch.
SUPER SIX WORLD BOXING CLASSIC: The inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic has been a six-fighter tournament from SHOWTIME Sports? featuring the class of the super middleweight (168-pound) division from around the world. Each boxer was to fight three bouts against different opponents in the field in the points-based Group Stage of competition (Win ? 2 pts with a 1-pt bonus for KO/TKO; Loss ? 0 pts; Draw ? 1 pt.). After the Group Stage, the four fighters with the highest point totals were to advance to the single-elimination semifinals, which conclude with Saturday’s winner vs. tournament leader Andre Ward in a battle for the Super Six World Boxing Classic Cup.
