By Jake Donovan
It sounds cliché to offer the “they don’t make ‘em like him anymore” tagline when assessing a fighter’s toughness, but it certainly rang true in regards to the incredible career of three-time super middleweight titlist Carl Froch (33-2, 24KOs). Sadly, the term is now past tense, as the 38-year old Brit announced his retirement from the sport following 12 full years in service.
You’d be hard-pressed to find any top fighter who did more with less than was the case with Froch, a gritty brawler-boxer who once upon a time bore resemblance to a complete fighter, but eventually favored will over skill in conquering his opposition.
Conquer he did, save for a couple of bumps along the way. Not even fight fallouts and in-ring defeats could deny the Brit his just due as one of the great ones. Even in claiming second place to Andre Ward’s championship run in the Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic, it can be argued that the tournament did more for Froch’s career than any other contestant, including Ward and Mikkel Kessler, the only two fighters to hang a loss on his career.
That Froch overcame the setbacks—eventually avenging the defeat to Kessler—spoke volumes to what made him so special, beginning with his grand arrival on the title stage.
Froch had appeared on stateside programming exactly once through his first five years as a pro—an odd showcase slot on HBO Latino now-defunct Boxeo De Oro series. An 8th round knockout of Henry Porras took place in Hollywood, California, marking his U.S. debut.
The event flew so far under the radar that most boxing fans were still getting to know Froch by the time Showtime was ready to bring him on board in 2008. In fact, most fans and even a lot of stateside media still couldn’t properly pronounce his name ahead of a planned March ’08 clash with Dennis Inkin, at the time a matchup between unbeaten super middleweights, in a title eliminator that was to determine the mandatory challenger to then-World super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe.
The fight was delayed by six weeks, or just long enough for those not yet in the know to learn that Froch’s last name rhymed with “scotch” rather than “stock.” The rescheduled May 10 came around for Froch, but not for Inkin, who pulled up injured for the second time in barely a month and withdrew from the fight altogether, only to miraculously turn up in a title fight just a few months later.
Inkin would win a belt, but end his career on a loss. Meanwhile, Froch was just getting started. His May ’08 Showtime appearance would come against late replacement Albert Rybacki, stopping the then-unbeaten prospect in four rounds in his Nottingham hometown. The uncertainty of his placement on the show meant being dismissed from main event status, a move that would eventually spring to stardom another legitimate tough guy in Tim Bradley, who upset Junior Witter to win his first title.
The knockout win over Rybacki was akin to playing with house money; by that point, Froch was already named Calzaghe’s mandatory challenger basically by default. There was just one problem; the unbeaten Welshman—mere weeks removed from a 12-round win over Bernard Hopkins—was on the verge of abandoning his super middleweight belts in favor of a run at light heavyweight.
Just one more fight would come of Calzaghe’s plans, a unanimous decision win over a faded Roy Jones Jr. at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
One month later, Froch would mark the start of a new era. His 12-round win over Jean Pascal rated as one of the best fights of 2008, and also kicked off a run of an exceedingly high level of competition that wouldn’t let up all the way through his final career fight in May ’14.
Over the final 12 bouts of his career, just one could be classified as a true dunker—a 3rd round knockout of Yusaf Mack in Nov. ’12.
There wasn’t a tune-up fight to be found in Froch’s first title reign—from his vacant belt-winning effort over Pascal came his April ’09 thriller with Jermain Taylor. Fans and media alike were still mispronouncing his name in the buildup to his second career stateside appearance, but he gave the boxing world something to help their collective memory, scoring a last-minute stoppage of the former middleweight king.
The result left a lasting impression on the industry, particularly SHOWTIME who televised the event and would bring him back for its groundbreaking round-robin super middleweight tournament.
The Super Six tournament at its most favorable was viewed as an ambitious attempt at mixing and matching most of the best super middleweights in the world. For the most part, it fell well short in terms of execution – lasting much longer than expected, and also having to substitute in three fighters along the way.
When all was said and done, Ward claimed top honors, yet it was Froch who ultimately became the face of the tournament, though largely for what he managed to accomplish in the aftermath. While Ward was a clear-cut winner—and still the unbeaten World super middleweight king to this date—injuries and contractual issues had slowed his career to crawl, having fought just three times since the Dec. ’11 conclusion.
Froch—who had suffered losses to Ward and Kessler in going 3-2 overall in the tournament—showed no concern in immediately returning to the top level. His first post-Super Six fight was against the one fighter most viewed as a notable tournament omission, then-unbeaten titlist Lucian Bute. A two-fight set was inked between the boxers, each guaranteed a home game.
Their series never made it past their May ’12 meet in Nottingham. Performing in front of a vocal and sold-out hometown crowd, Froch delivered perhaps the finest performance of his career, dismantling Bute inside of five rounds.
Bute had threatened to exercise his rematch clause, but it never happened, nor was he ever the same after the loss, his first as a pro.
From there, Froch went on a campaign daring Ward to step to him in a rematch, anxious to reverse his losses. The coveted sequel never materialized, but Froch would gain revenge in another form when he landed a second shot at Kessler in May ’13.
The event took place in London, serving as his official debut on HBO’s flagship station. The bout was a thriller in the ring, as well as a huge hit with viewers and at the box office. Froch claimed a 12-round decision over Kessler, who himself would eventually retire after months of teasing the possibility of pursuing a rubber match.
His fight with Kessler marked his ninth over his last 12 starts coming against a former, current or future title claimant. Among the three who never held alphabet hardware was Andre Dirrell, whom Froch edged in the first stage of the Super Six tournament when both were unbeaten in Oct. ’09.
By the end of the summer, we will find out whether George Groves is added to that list. The Brit will face Badou Jack on August 22 for a super middleweight title. He had two chances to win his first title, both coming against Froch in what serves as the final two fights of his countryman’s career.
Froch was in major trouble in their first fight in Nov. ‘13, dropped in the opening round and trailing on all three scorecards through eight rounds. Showing the grit that has defined his legacy, Froch rallied hard in round nine, rocking Groves in a huge momentum shift. He was denied the chance at a satisfactory ending when referee Howard John Foster showed an itchy trigger finger in prematurely stopping the contest.
As only boxing can do, the officiating snafu managed to lead to the biggest box office event of Froch’s incredible career, one that would fittingly serve as his last call in the ring.
Upwards of 80,000 fans packed into the famed Wembley Stadium in London for their May ’14 rematch. The bout was fought on relatively even terms, though this time with Froch—just five weeks shy of his 37th birthday at the time, and 11 years Groves’ senior—in the lead and also in control by the time he delivered a highlight-reel knockout in the 8th round.
By that point, Froch had managed to replace Ward—not in championship status, but as the face of the super middleweight division. Ward’s post-Super Six run saw separate layoffs of nine months, 14 months and 19 months, at one point having only fought twice in the span of more than three years.
Froch remained consistent, fighting every six months from May ’12 to May ’14. The past 14 months were spent mulling potential showdowns with the likes of countryman James DeGale, former middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez and even flirting with the idea of a mouthwatering clash with unbeaten knockout artist and long-reigning middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin.
A clash with Chavez Jr. came dangerously close to happening, one that would’ve landed Froch a long-coveted fight date in Las Vegas. The fight failed to materialize, both due to logistical reasons and Froch suffering an untimely injury that would put him out until the summer at the earliest.
It meant allowing DeGale to fight for one of his vacant titles, claiming the belt in a win over Andre Dirrell in May, becoming the first ever British Olympic Gold medalist to win a major title in the pro ranks. Froch flirted with the idea of pursuing his old belt, but in the end decided to exit the game with his faculties intact.
"I'm incredibly proud of what I have achieved in boxing, but now is the right moment to hang up my gloves," Froch said in a statement released through the press office of Matchroom Boxing, which served as his promoter for the final seven bouts of his career.
"I have nothing left to prove, and my legacy speaks for itself."
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox