By Rick Reeno
Virgil Hunter, the trainer for super middleweight king Andre Ward (26-0, 14KOs), and retired British great Joe Calzaghe, are not always on the same page. But the two men are in agreement when it comes to certain statements that are being made by IBF/WBA “regular” champion Carl Froch. Both Calzaghe and Hunter believe the Nottingham fighter is significantly exaggerating the importance of his rematch victory over Mikkel Kessler from last Saturday night.
A few days after the victory, Froch proclaimed to the BBC that he was the best boxer in UK history, with only Lennox Lewis standing at his side.
"In Great Britain I’m number one. It’s between me and Lennox Lewis, depending on how far you are going back," Froch said.
Calzaghe was enraged by Froch's statement and ripped right into him.
“The guy is highly, highly delusional if he believes that. After what? Beating Mikkel Kessler who has effectively been in semi-retirement for three years and is well short of his prime? And even that was only to level the scores after Kessler beat him,' Calzaghe told South Wales Argus.
“Carl is not even the best super middleweight in the world today. If he’s the best British fighter of all-time, does that mean Andre Ward is twice as good as any boxer we’ve ever produced? Where is Carl’s era of dominance? People have thought he was the real deal for about two years. Plus, I think it’s pathetic to be trying to write your own legacy. It’s not up to me to judge where I am, or for Carl to judge where he is. It’s for others to decide.”
“I beat six former world champions in my career, but that is often overlooked, and with Carl the opposite is true, the quality of his opponents is overstated massively. Are Jermain Taylor or Andre Dirrell world class fighters? He was fortunate to beat Taylor and many, many people don’t think he beat Dirrell. He also lost to Kessler, lost to Ward and got enormous credit for beating Lucien Bute. But Bute isn’t a lot better than a domestic level fighter, if at all.”
Hunter was in agreement with Calzaghe, also stating that Froch is overhyping his biggest career wins. Ward defeated Kessler via technical decision in 2009, and the Northern Cali boxer was a big underdog coming into that fight.
"In truth we finished Kessler [in 2009] and Andre was just a puppy back then [20-0]. [Froch] still hasn't beat anybody. We finished Kessler and took the life out of him. Think about who [Kessler] fought since that time. [Besides] Froch, he hasn't had what it takes to fight anybody of any caliber, because finished him. The thing about that [rematch last Saturday], Kessler's body language made it seem like there was more happening than there really was, because he's a shot fighter. His balance is shot and his body language made [every landed punch] look worse than it was. And he still hurt Froch two or three times in that fight," Hunter told BoxingScene.com.
Hunter also responded to Froch's comments about Ward getting tired in the later rounds of their fight. Froch believes Ward's stamina will potentially help him secure a knockout victory if a rematch is made.
Ward's trainer disagrees, stating that his fighter only slowed down because of a badly injured hand. After Ward defeated Froch, an MRI revealed multiple fractures in the third and fifth metacarpal bones of his left hand.
"The truth of the matter is, he had a broke hand and it was swelling tremendously, so he was pulling back and throwing pot shots the rest of the way. If he was tired then [Froch] should have caught up with him [and knocked him out]," Hunter said.
