The term seems archaic in this day and age. But Andre Ward and Carl “Cobra” Froch will truly be “prizefighters” when they fight in the Showtime Super Middleweight Tournament final on Saturday night in Atlantic City. The Oakland fighter and the brawler from Nottingham, UK, will be scrapping not only for their purses and future ring riches but for this dazzling piece of hardware they have already posed with. They might have called it the (Ken) Hershman Cup but the ex-Showtime decision maker has by now decamped to rival HBO, where he takes the reins in January. On paper, Froch-Ward shapes up as a fight which can send the boxing year 2011 out on a real high note. Their styles could not be more different and while Ward wants to impress in his first big East Coast outing, Froch is looking to stamp himself as England’s top fighter what with Amir Khan and David Haye both stubbing their respective toes in recent months. (In Haye’s pitiful effort against Wladimir Klitschko he literally claimed to have stubbed a toe.) I’m tempted to pick the underdog here just as I was in the HBO main event last Saturday when underdog Lamont Peterson bit Khan in the backside while Amir was babbling about a) how maybe Manny Pacquiao should consider retirement and b) how he was ready, williing and able to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. I did not pick against Khan and I’m not ready to forecast a Forch upset at least of yet. Some people find Ward’s rhytmic style boring while others cite him as a textbook type boxer weith some of the slickness and polish that Mayweather has. When you dwell on Froch’s loss to Mikkel Kessler, it’s hard to see how he can defeat Ward. But Froch may be up for a career best effort and he’s one of those willing scrappers who might, on any given night, beat any man. Peterson-Khan left a plesasant buzz despite the complaints about referee Joseph Cooper. Froch-Ward can give the sport more impetus going into 2012.
