Carl Froch reclaimed the WBC Super Middleweight title with an easier then expected unanimous decision over former Middleweight champion Arthur Abraham as part of the Super Six world Boxing Classic in Helsinki, Finland.
Froch was much more active early as he threw combination’s behind his jab and worked the body of the normally slow starting Abraham. Abraham lived up to that billing as he offensive attempts were few and far between as it was Frpch who dictated the action throughout the bout. Froch closed out the first half of the fight strongly as he worked the sides of Abraham underneath the German’s high guard. In round six, Froch’s jab began to knock Abraham back and even caused swelling wound Abraham’s’ eyes.
Froch was very consistent with his brief flurries as he never let Abraham get into any rhythm as Froch not only led but was effective with the counter punching. By round eleven, Abraham had a resounding look of resignation on his face as Froch continued to pound Abraham with combination’s to the head and body. Abraham showed slightly more desperation in the final stanza but his punches were wide and Froch’s movement and enough jabbing had him winning the frame much like the previous eleven.
Froch, 116 3/4 lbs of Nottingham, England won by scores of 120-108; 119-109; 119-109 to raise his record to 27-1. Abraham, 167 3/4 lbs of Berlin, Germany is now 31-2.
With a tournament record of 2-1, Froch earned two points for the win for a total of four and will face Glen Johnson in the Semifinals. Johnson and Abraham are tied with three points but Johnson wins the judges’ scorecard tiebreak to grab the third seed. That leaves Abraham in fourth and a Semifinal date with tournament point leader Andre Ward.
“He’s an old wise fox,” Froch said of the 41-year-old Johnson. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s a great, great fighter. If Glen Johnson is watching I just want to say I look forward to that fight.”
The standings after the Group Stages are as follows:
FINAL GROUP STAGE SUPER SIX WORLD BOXING CLASSIC SCOREBOARD
Record Fighter Points
3-0 Andre Ward 6
2-1 Carl Froch 4
1-0, 1 KO Glen Johnson* 3
1-2, 1 KO Arthur Abraham 3
* Johnson wins tiebreaker based on total judges’ scorecard points.
SHOWTIME play-by-play announcer Steve Albert was duly impressed by Froch’s performance. “This has been a stunning display by Froch,” he said, after which analyst Steve Farhood replied. “And this has been a stunningly flat display by Abraham.”
“I knew I was going to be this dominating,” Froch told Farhood and the SHOWTIME viewers after the fight. “There were so many times I wanted to put my punches together and put my shots together but I just listened to my corner and they kept saying stand back and let him come. So that’s what I did.
“There were a few times when it got into a bit of a brawl but I didn’t want that. That would have been too dangerous and silly because Arthur Abraham is a big puncher and a very strong man. He knows what he’s doing. I knew if I executed my game plan it would be an easy night’s work and I proved that tonight. “He landed a few stiff jabs in there. He tried to get a little dirty but the ref did a great job stopping that. I had some great sparring with (ShoBox alum) Edwin Rodriguez. That really helped me.”
Abraham was contrite and short following the bout. “I’m not sure what happened,” he said. “Nothing worked tonight. He was the better man tonight and he won. Everything I meant to do did not work.”
