Best of British - Carl Froch
- britishboxingblog
- Nov 26, 2015
- 4 min read
Best of Britsh – Carl Froch
Hands up who finished their career by landing the best punch of said career in front of 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium. Nope, me neither. Carl “The Cobra” Froch did. I’m not sure if you heard that before now. He’s mentioned it a few times. And a few more.
All jokes aside, what a career this man has had. And what a way to conclude it! This article might seem premature considering he only officially retired a few months ago, and rumours had surfaced of a comeback, but I strongly believe that over time Froch will grow to be recognised as one of the greatest British fighters ever. Some probably think that he is already. Others will argue the case and point out the unavenged loss against Andre Ward. Or the avoidance of James Degale towards the end. Or the doomed attempt to face Gennady Golovkin. If you look at what he actually achieved, rather than what might have been, his record stacks up against any Brit who ever laced up a pair of gloves.
His domestic career went largely unnoticed by the masses, however he won the English, British and Commonwealth titles after 15 professional contests. This followed a bronze medal in the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2001 before he crossed codes into the paid ranks. Due to a lack of exposure Froch continued with a relatively low profile until a terrestrially televised world title shot against the Canadian Jean Pascal. The Cobra took advantage of this opportunity by outworking Pascal to a unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBC crown. His career was about to take off but not without a hitch.
In the first defence of his new title, Froch would begin to forge his reputation for taking the fights to his opponents (literally). The Nottingham man travelled across the pond, for only the second time in his career, to face former undisputed middleweight king Jermaine Taylor. It is fair to say it wasn’t plain sailing. Having been outboxed throughout, and dropped in the third, the Brit showed unbelievable determination and heart to drag himself back into the contest. Entering the twelfth and final round, Froch was behind on all three judges’ scorecards and needed a knockout. What followed was one of the most dramatic comeback victories I’ve witnessed at the top level. With seconds left in the round Froch dropped Taylor hard. He pulled himself to his feet but The Cobra was not to be denied. He threw everything at the Arkansas native, knocking him down again before the referee waved it off. A star should have been born.
Despite calling out other champions in and around the 168 lbs division, Froch was forced to go on the road again to find elite competition. With the backing of Mick Hennessy, he entered the Super Six tournament which pitted the best super-middleweights in the world against each other. From the two bouts I’ve discussed through Andre Dirrell (his last home fight for a while), Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham. Glen Johnson and Andre Ward, Carl proved he would take on anyone, anywhere. He wasn’t always successful but he never ducked anyone (a trait many of today’s fighters and promoters would do well to emulate). Having lost to a pound for pound star in Ward he would’ve been excused an easy touch. Enter the best super-middleweight not to enter the tournament; Lucian “Le Tombeur” Bute. Such was the dominance of Froch in this bout (a fifth round demolition) it is easy to forget Bute was the favourite going in and it could have been the end for The Cobra had the result not gone his way.
He then went on to avenge his Super Six loss to the great Dane, Mikkel Kessler in an all-out war at Wembley Arena. Froch would only face one more opponent in his Hall of Fame worthy career. It wasn’t a rematch against Ward or a headlining show under the lights of Las Vegas as he had dreamed. Not even Matchroom Sport (who took over promoting duties prior to the Johnson bout) could have predicted what would happen next. I feel at this point it is important to note that I was one of the few who favoured George Groves in both bouts against Carl Froch. I felt that Carl had underestimated “The Saint” before their first encounter and paid the price with the early knockdown. In true Cobra fashion however he bulldozed his way back into the contest and the controversial ending has been discussed to death. As has the rematch. But Froch-Groves II will forever be remembered for the right reasons (at least from his point of view). I remain a Groves fan but Carl Froch silenced the doubters with a sensational one punch knockout of his rival and, after a protracted period of self-reflection, hung up his gloves as possibly the best British boxer of all time.
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