“When I connect with a hurtful shot on the jaw section of the cranium, I’ll do some serious damage”…”I will get aggressive. I have to push the fight”…all recent comments made by some of the biggest names in the sport. Looking back at this week’s key quotes of note, Boxing Scribe Vivek Wallace offers his own unique perspective, giving fight fans “a little something to think about”. Check it out!
“I’ve been disappointed in my last fights. Not because I’ve not been in good fights, but because I’ve not gotten a stoppage. I’m confident against Ward that when I connect with a hurtful shot on the jaw section of the cranium, I’ll do some serious damage.” – Carl Froch speaking to Sky Sports News about his upcoming clash with Andre Ward
Perspective: We hear certain things about certain fighters time and time again; some true, some proven, some untrue, some never proven. As it relates to California native Andre Ward, one thing often mentioned has, so far, proven untrue and remains unseen, yet this doesn’t stop the belief from surfacing. When you consider that he hasn’t lost a pro bout, or even an amateur bout, since ’97 (age 13), which includes an Olympic Gold Medal run, one can’t help but wonder where the rumors of a “delicate chin” started? And better yet, what proof substantiates them? Froch seems to fall in that not-so-silent minority who seems to think that Ward is one flush powershot away from his first loss. Perhaps what he hasn’t considered is that even if he’s right, the polished skills of Ward, which in my book remains second in the sport only to Floyd Mayweather, has prevented him from taking such a bomb.
From the outside of the ring, it often appears that fighters like Ward, Mayweather, Hopkins, Toney, and a few others are easy to conquer and just as easy to figure out. Sounds great in theory, but the two elements in the sport that remain nearly impossible to conquer is the one element that makes them all dangerous, despite age, size, or for Toney, even stamina. The first element is their natural power of the mind, a controlling element that controls not only theirs, but also the opponent who stands across from them. Each of these men have defeated many opponents well prior to entering the ring with a bevy of mental mind games, and although Ward hasn’t proven to be a ‘gamer’, the complex mental game starts, for most of his opponents, in training when they have to game plan to defeat a man who has yet to lose. There is no blueprint.
The second thing about these men that have made each of them very difficult to conquer is the fact that they each aim to win the battle “in the moment”. In other words, you may have a perfect game plan to defeat them, as you’ve seen them in the past, but being naturally quick thinkers, they tend to cancel out the cornerman and all pertinent fight footage because they act according to what’s in front of them at the time, not what was in front of them in the past. You move left, they move right. You cut off the ring, they come straight at you. You sit back and box, they beat you with shot selection. Any man can have an off night, but these men have proven to win based on being able to out-think the opponent in the moment. Froch is a very good fighter and slicker than most, but despite his ability, the operative question becomes, what makes Froch so convinced that he’ll connect with that hurtful shot? 12 rounds is a long time, but as he prepares for this showdown, this is definitely something for him to think about.
