Andre Ward Defeats Carl Froch for 168 pound Supremacy - Photo By Tom Casino/Showtime
S.O.G. Defends WBA Title; Claims WBC, The Ring Magazine Belts and Super Six Cup In Dominant Performance Over Carl Froch
The Final will Replay on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME®
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Dec. 18, 2011) – Andre Ward is the Super Six World Boxing Classic champion and the No. 1 super middleweight in the world. Ward dominated England’s Carl Froch to win a unanimous decision by the scores of 118-110, 115-113 two times in front of 5,626 atBoardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The victory unified the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council super middleweight titles and also earned Ward The Ring Magazine belt as well as the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic cup.
A frontrunner for Fighter of the Year, Ward’s (25-0, 13 KOs) exploit has anointed him as the man to beat at 168 pounds. After the hard-fought unification bout, Ward had one word for his impressive evening and undefeated run thought the tournament: Supernatural.
“It’s supernatural. These are all great fighters. That’s why you don’t hear me talking badly about them before the fight. I know what I’m getting into. I just want to be a little bit better on the night of the fight.”
Ward, of Oakland, Calif., was more than a little bit better and proved once again that he can fight any type of fight and win convincingly. Despite being the faster, slicker boxer, Ward stayed in the pocket at many times throughout The Final and exchanged with the heavy-hitting Froch. However, Ward also displayed his superior defense and boxing ability.
“He’s very good defensively,” Froch said of Ward. “I couldn’t get my shots off. I never found myself in the range. Ward was either too close and smothering me or too far away.”
Ward was too quick for Froch. Froch (28-2, 20 KOs) seemed tight throughout the fight and frustrated by Ward’s ability to slip punches.
“Right away, I was actually surprised how slow Froch was,” said Ward. “We were just able to beat him to the punch and that’s what won us the fight.”
Froch was gracious in defeat and offered no excuses. “I lost tonight, fair and square. I had a bad night.”
He elaborated, “I couldn’t get anything going. He’s very slippery. It was very frustrating for me. It was a bad night.”
After the final bell of the Super Six World Boxing Classic rang, Ward raised his hands in victory when judge John Keane (United Kingdom) awarded him the bout 118-110 and both Craig Metcalfe (Canada) and John Stewart (United States) scored the 12-rounder for Ward at 115-113.
Ward’s arduous journey through the Super Six tournament included dominant victories over former champion Mikkel Kessler (TD11), Allan Green (UD12), Arthur Abraham (UD12) and Froch (UD12).
For Froch, the tournament provided mostly ups but some significant downs. He scored a split decision win over Andre Dirrell before losing his WBC title in a unanimous decision loss to Kessler. He rebounded by winning back the vacant WBC belt by unanimous decision over Abraham and then scored a majority decision victory over Glen Johnson in the Semifinals.
What either fighter will do next is uncertain – but tonight’s culminating bout provided certainty in the division. As SHOWTIME intended when the network launched the tournament, the Super Six World Boxing Classic has determined the No. 1 super middleweight in the world. And that man is Andre Ward.
Tonight’s telecast of The Final will replay on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME and will be available on SHOWTIME On Demand from Dec. 20 to Jan. 2, 2012.
Gus Johnson served as blow-by-blow announcer with Al Bernstein and Antonio Tarver as expert analysts and Jim Gray as ringside reporter. David Dinkins Jr. is the Executive Producer of SHOWTIME Sports with Bob Dunphy directing.
The event was promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, Matchroom Sport and Antonio Leonard Promotions, in association with Caesars Atlantic City and sponsored by Corona.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
