By Terence Dooley

Carl Froch’s decision to call time on his career earlier this week prompted a lot of discussion amongst boxing fans.  His in-ring achievements received unanimous acclaim, but some criticised his out-of-the-ring persona, which in my opinion is driven by a sense of humour so dry it is almost a stain.

“The Cobra” (33-2, 24 KOs) has had some massive nights: his title winning effort over Jean Pascal in December 2008, the come from behind win over Jermain Taylor (TKO 12), wins over Andre Dirrell (W SD 12), Arthur Abraham (W 12) and Glen Johnson (W MD 12) during his Super Six run.

There have been other, lesser-known nights.  For example his November 2013 win over George Groves (TKO 9) followed by a rematch KO win in front of 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium that is rarely mention by the man himself.

For this writer, though, there is nothing like seeing a fighter in the flesh, so his wins over Andre Dirrell and Lucian Bute (W TKO 5), both southpaws, will live long in the memory for a number of reasons.

When he met Dirrell in October 2009, Froch was coming off the late, late stoppage over Taylor.  It was also the inaugural night of the Super Six competition, a round robin in which the various fighters all had to travel abroad for different tests before heading to Oakland to fight Andre Ward, who met Froch in the New Jersey-based final.

The night began with a brutal knockout win for Arthur Abraham, who was named alongside Mikkel Kessler as the even-money favourite going into the competition with Froch a close second.  Abraham knocked out Jermain Taylor in Berlin with a huge right hand that also knocked the America out of the tournament.

Then it was over to Froch and Dirrell to provide further fireworks.  The bout was scheduled for the early hours in order to accommodate U.S. TV so the crowd were well oiled as the fight approached.

There was a clear sense of being part of something new, fresh and exciting—words you don’t often hear in boxing.  “It's the biggest thing to happen in boxing in at least 20 years,” was Hennessy’s take on the Super Six.  “It's an incredible tournament.”

Dirrell had riled Froch during fight week, telling the Birmingham Evening Mail that: “Everybody—including Carl Froch—knows I am the most highly-skilled fighter of the six.  All I have to do is come into the ring in shape.  I'm confident that will get me through not only Carl Froch—easy as pie—but the next two as well.” (October 15 2009).

“Andre Dirrell and his team lack class as far as I'm concerned,” was Froch’s riposte during a tetchy final presser in which the WBC titlist turned up late and members of his team booed the visiting fighter.

“The language has been bad, the banter has been terrible and I don't want to get involved in any of that nonsense.  He knows he's in deep water on Saturday and he knows when I start connecting with the bombs he's going to be in serious trouble.

“I've got a feeling he's going to run scared but it's 12 three-minute rounds and I will catch him up.  When I do I'm going to do some serious damage.  I'll be bringing it on Saturday night and I cannot wait.”

Gary Shaw, Dirrell’s promoter, laid the blame firmly at Froch’s feet before talking up his man: “I believe Andre Dirrell will be the last man standing in this competition.  He is the most gifted athlete in the tournament.  No one has his athleticism and speed,” (Nottingham Evening Post, October 15 2009).

Pre-fight mutual animosity can either produce fireworks or prompt fighters into fighting angry.  Froch’s boxing lacked cohesion throughout, mainly due to Dirrell’s constant lateral movement, and there were few thrills for the 85000 fans in Nottingham’s Trent FM Arena.

After a messay, staccato fight two lots of 115-112 from Daniel Van de Wiele and Massimo Barrovecchio cancelled out Alejandro Rochin’s score of 113-114—referee Hector Afu had docked Dirrell a point in the 10th for pulling Froch into him.

“Andre has learned that when you come away to the champions’ country you have to win convincingly and Andre didn’t do that tonight—not in the eyes of two of the three judges,” said Shaw when speaking about Froch’s decision win.

“I felt that he won a close fight.  I am very proud of my fighter.  If he would have unloaded early—we had told him to box—we might have had more success as he traded late on and had success.”

He added: “People talk about fighting but this sport is boxing.  Andre is a superior boxer and should get credit for that.  You don’t have to stand in front of someone and get your head punched in.  It may not be pleasing for Carl, who wants to punch your lights out, but Andre is not going to stand there for that—he was boxing.”

“I feel that I did my job,” said the beaten challenger.  “I could have did more but I guess I wasn’t ready for the dirty tactics that Carl Froch brought to the table.  I’ll have to come back stronger next time.”

Froch was not happy with his own performance, either; the man from Nottingham cut a deflated figure after the fight.  “I was a little bit disappointed by the general performance,” he said.

“I’m not injured or hurt, no knocks or bangs.  This wasn’t the type of fight that I had with Jean Pascal—you don’t need too many of those types of wars in your career.  In terms of longevity, this won’t give me any trouble at all.  I wasn’t hurt or banged about in any way.  It was dissatisfying as a warrior not to have that trade-off.  Kessler will give me that and give the fans and TV what they want.”

Some fans still argue that Dirrell won, and it could have gone his way under different circumstances, but despite bouncing back with a DQ win over Arthur Abraham four months later, “The Matrix” sustained a head injury and spent almost two years out of the ring.

With only six fights since that night, and a recent decision loss to James DeGale for the vacant IBF, it is hard to see the former star amateur make good on his early career promise.

Froch lost to Kessler in his next fight (L 12 in April 2010), he bounced back with wins over Abraham and Johnson before meeting Ward in the final, a unanimous defeat in December 2011.

Not one to shirk a challenge, Froch met Lucian Bute for the IBF title in his comeback fight.  It was another big night in Nottingham.  I vividly recall arriving home from Morocco early that morning, jumping on a train and getting to Froch’s home city in the early afternoon to sample the pre-fight build up.  Froch’s fans were in a partying mood, there was no sign of nerves amongst the crowd despite a number of pundits plumping for Bute pre-fight.

This was a turning point in Froch’s career.  His run of fights against Pascal, Taylor, Dirrell, Kessler, Abraham, Johnson, Ward and then Bute was the most impressive run of high-quality contests since James Toney’s ridiculous 1991 run—Merqui Sosa (W SD 12), Alberto Gonzalez (TKO 5), Michael Nunn (TKO 11), Reggie Johnson (W SD 12), Francesco Dell’Aquila (TKO 4) and Mike McCallum (D 12).

However, some still viewed Froch as a brawler who lacked a top, top win.  Taylor was considered past it, Pascal never quite hit the heights expected of him and Froch had been completely out-classed by Ward.  This perception of Froch was blown away within five destructive rounds as he handed out the kind of beating that fighters rarely recover from.

Devoid of excuses, Bute had to simply hold his hand up and admit that he had lost to the better man.  Despite later claims that Froch’s recent solid media profile was solely based on the Groves brace, he posted a very healthy 668,000 viewing peak on Kantor Media—although Dan Horlock of TV Sports Markets reported a BARB high of 576,500.  Either way, it is still a respectable figure for a late-night boxing match.

It was a case of crossover fame at last for a man who had fought the best only to watch in bemusement as fighters with lesser resumes gained more column inches.  “It is hard to put my feelings into words to be honest, but I’ve become a world champion for a third time by beating an undefeated guy who is the best at the weight,” said Froch when speaking to me a few days after the win.

“I don’t seek redemption or credit, I box because I love it and I always fight guys at the top-level because I’ve always wanted to be the best in the world at what I do ever since turning professional.  There is no point in being half-hearted, taking on ready picked opponents and retiring undefeated.  I want to be the best and fight the best—when you do that time and time again, you drop the odd close decision.”

His outings against Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler and Arthur Abraham took place on Primetime and Premier Sports.  With Sky on-board, he had a new platform and was on the fast-track to PPV.

“What do you think?” he replied when asked the admittedly banal and obvious question of whether he was happy with the exposure.  “Of course I am.  The crowd turned up to watch me because of what I’ve done and put into the sport—they respect and appreciate it.  It is not just me, it is my team and Eddie [Hearn] is a massive part of a small team.  We’ve just got Robert McCracken [Froch’s trainer], Eddie and Matchroom, but look at what we’ve achieved.”

American analyst Al Bernstein had banged the drum for Froch for years.  The Showtime pundit and long-time fight figure recognised Froch’s potential marketability.  It was just a case of finding the right fights and platform; the Super Six handed this to Froch and when Sky came calling he was halfway to earning that big night at Wembley.

“I think boxers almost feel compelled, and they are encouraged by the media in general, to behave badly,” said Bernstein when speaking to me about fighters in general and Froch in particular for Boxing Monthly.

“Then you have fighters who behave well and are labelled ‘boring’, [WBC and WBA super middleweight champion] Andre Ward is a perfect example of this.  We live in an age where the squeaky wheel gets more attention.  Restrained behaviour doesn’t seem to get rewarded as much.

“I think Carl is a perfect example of someone who is who he is.  Carl is no shrinking violet—he is a challenging type of guy.  I kidded him by saying he looks like one of those guys from a Guy Ritchie movie, he has got that edge to him and it comes across in an organic way.”

Following the Bute fight, Froch seemed to grasp that fans react to what you do outside the ring as well as what you do inside it and, in this writer’s opinion, began subtly, or not so subtly, trolling the naysayers.  Especially after the second Groves fight, dryly and wryly using Wembley to frame a question for Floyd Mayweather prior to the American’s fight with Manny Pacquiao in May.

Humbling, brutal and decisive—the Bute fight inspired many emotions.  It also led to a rematch win over Kessler and the two entertaining, if toxic, meetings with Groves.  As the 38-year-old said when announcing he was going to retire: “I have nothing left to prove and my legacy speaks for itself.”  All things considered, he has made the right decision by opting to kick back, relax and enjoy his punditry work.

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