David Haye: Froch is The Best at 168 Since Joe Calzaghe
By Terence Dooley
Nottingham's Carl Froch and the Germany-based, Armenian-born Arthur Abraham brought some fistic fire to the cold country of Finland on Saturday night, as they fought for the WBC super-middleweight title vacated by Denmark's Mikkel Kessler. Froch lost his '0', and the WBC title, to the 'Great' Dane earlier this year; Abraham was also coming off his first career defeat after a controversial eleventh-round DQ reverse against Andre Dirrell back in March, Arthur clouted Dirrell with a right uppercut when the American was on his knees.
Saturday's contest presented both men with a chance at redemption, the winner would march into the next stage of the Super Six on the back of a super run of competitive fights, the tournament has been hit-and-miss due to withdrawals and injuries but when it works, and it worked at the Hartwall Arena tonight, the format gives us boxing at its very best – 50-50 matches between top-level fighters.
Abraham's entrance brought the crowd to life, 'King' Arthur clad in white and possessing the focus of a fistic guru; 'The Cobra', shrouded in black, came out to a mash-up of the Queen hit “We Will Rock You” and Guns and Roses's anthem “Welcome To The Jungle”. Neither boxer looked particularly nervous, both are arch-fighters, eyeing one another during the national anthems, waiting, perhaps, for all the pomp to pass so they could get down to business.
Froch (6' 1'' and 167.1lb) had fought tooth-and-nail when losing to Kessler, he started this fight calmly and brightly, using his boxing ability to keep the Armenian at bay. Abraham (5' 10'' and on the division limit of 168lb) had chided Froch in the build-up after the Englishman withdrew from a proposed October date due to a back injury; the 30-year-old recently stated that he likes to stay active and felt that the nine month lay-off had been bad for him. Indeed, he looked pensive, almost rusty, in the early going, shipping a few right hands to the body during a one-sided session.
Abraham, however, always carries about his person an ineffaceable stoicism; he looked far more purposeful early in the second stanza yet Froch, too often a brawler, stuck to his game plan well, scoring with jabs and that trusty right hand to the body, which kept Arthur wrong-footed throughout the round.
Froch's effectiveness was paying off by the third. Arthur, unable to stake a claim on centre ring, was forced onto the back-foot, never a good sign, and the former middleweight boss looked unsure of himself throughout.
Arthur looked to thicken the plot in the fourth, motoring forward yet failing to get his jab going, although he did turn in a little left hook off the shot around the midway point of the round. Froch, though, was not deterred, the former British and Commonwealth champion got back behind as the clock ticked down, peppering Abraham's guard with the shot and piling up the points.
A pivotal moment came in round five, Froch was caught cleanly by his opponent's jab for the first time only to immediately respond with a stiffer left, much to Arthur's chagrin. Carl's right hand to the body of Abraham continued to pay dividends, this careful implementation of withering rib-cage work largely responsible for Abraham's inability to set himself for his own shots.
Indeed, a body shot backed Arthur up early in the sixth, his tight guard, so often a huge plus, impeding his ability to block the body shots of Froch, who somewhat blotted his copybook when wildly and wilfully head hunting towards the end of the round, leading to a mini-chiding from trainer Robert McCracken, who was a stylish boxer when in his British, at light-middleweight, and Commonwealth, at middleweight, title winning pomp.
Still, you can never write Abraham off, the co-challenger again tried to motor in behind his tight guard for a few rounds; he was, perhaps, recalling the pattern his 2008 fight with Jermain Taylor, in which he uaws his tight guard to soak up shots early in the fight before taking over as the fight progressed. Even when on the ropes, the teak tough fighter spat defiance, daring Froch to come in before trying to fight his way back into the match.
It wasn't to be, McCracken warned Froch that Abraham was trying to catch him cleanly prior to the eleventh, he told his fighter to maintain concentration during the final six minutes. Froch carried out these instructions, even sticking to his “Steady Eddy” approach after Abraham had felt, and complained about, a shot to the body.
Arthur needed a KO, and he went for it early in the final stanza, landing a fierce right hand to the head of Froch, who momentarily looked in trouble only to once again take refuge behind a persistent left hand. The last thing Froch needed was a dose of final round dramatics, especially given Abraham's late rounds form, but he elected to bury a brace of body shots to midriff of Arthur, showing his foe that he could beat him at both boxing and banging, although Nottingham's finest had to take another crashing right at the end of the round.
The verdict was no surprise, scores of 119-109 and 120-108, twice, returned the WBC title, and a huge dose of impetus, to Froch. McCracken had given his man the perfect plan, the trainer telling The Telegraph that it was “All about the jab.”
WBA heavyweight title holder David Haye was at ringside, he told the BBC that, “This performance was punch perfect, rarely do you see a British fighter do that on foreign soil. I just couldn't give Abraham a round, it was a shutout. That just shows how good Carl Froch is. Arthur Abraham is used to imposing his strength on his opponents but people don't realise how big Carl Froch is at the weight.”
He added: “I was really, really proud of him, it was all about discipline. I didn't need to mix it up with Valuev and he didn't need to mix it up with Abraham. Carl is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, without a doubt, he's cleaned his division out and this Super Six format forces the best to fight the best. Carl is the best super-middleweight since Joe Calzaghe.
“This was a genuine fifty-fifty fight and people who felt short changed by my fight [with Audley Harrison] got their money's worth tonight. Carl is a great fighter and this fight will go down in history because Abraham will fight other guys and start knocking people out again.”
Abraham, now 31-2 (25 early), needs to go back to the drawing board, his peek-a-boo style is effective to a point but he lacks imagination and the ability to adapt when faced with a bit of movement, his next fight is a rematch with Froch, so there is a lot of work to be done in the interim months. Froch, who moves to 27-1 (20 KOs), now has the opportunity to rest and recover after a physically and mentally testing 2010; he has another tough run of fights to look forward to in the new year.
Froch, however, relishes the task ahead, he believes that he is destined to win the Super Six tournament, emerging with the WBC and WBA titles, not to mention the scalp of unbeaten American hope Andre Ward, who fights Sakio Bika later tonight, in the process; he has declared that he will then go straight into a rematch against light-heavyweight king, and former victim, Jean Pascal should Pascal continue his remarkable recent run.
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