Super Six Boxing Final Booked: Carl Froch vs Glen Johnson Match Recap

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Carl Froch never does anything easy and despite the comfortable margin of the final judges’ decision that would be the case in his Super Six World Boxing Classic Semi-Final bout against fellow Road Warrior Glen Johnson. It would take a few rounds to get going but by the fourth round it was clear that Showtime viewers were in for a slugfest. In a fight that brought the Atlantic City crowd to its feet in appreciation, the two well-travelled boxers left it all in the ring.

Having surprised many by successfully outboxing Arthur Abraham in his last fight, Froch looked to again use the same disciplined tactics against Johnson. Throughout the fight Froch would fall back and look to work Johnson over with his jab. Unfortunately for the Englishmen, he would more often than not fail to throw the punch with the speed, power or accuracy necessary to discourage a bullish Johnson. Therefore throughout the fight Johnson would feel confident in moving forward and seeking to punish Froch on the inside. Most notably Johnson exploited the champion’s failure to properly protect his body or keep his left-hand high, landing multiple blows to the body and especially the overhand right.

However while Johnson brought the heavy duty offense, Froch should a tremendous ability to fight under pressure. While mistakes would creep into his game he would show an uncanny ability to respond with a combination or punch to cancel out the power punch of the challenger. What was slightly mystifying is that too often Froch would let the fight drift until really put under pressure by the challenger.

Froch’s worst round was Round Eight where Johnson seemingly had the granite chinned champion badly hurt after following up a crunching body shot with a big overhand right. A rocked Froch was forced into survival mode for the reminder of the round. However it would be the peak of Johnson’s challenge, with Froch taking the final third of the fight 40-36 on Inside Fights’ scorecard as he exploited a fading Johnson’s dip in workrate by becoming more aggressive.

He would retain his championship and progress to the final of the Super Six on a majority decision, with the judges scoring it 114-114, 117-111, 116-112. Inside Fights had it 116-113. Carl Froch once again showed plenty of heart and determination, with his ability to soak up Johnson’s power being genuinely impressive. However the technical flaws in his game may prove fertile ground for WBA Champion Andre Ward when they meet this fall in a fight literally two years in the making.

A Comics Nexus original, Will Cooling has written about comics since 2004 despite the best efforts of the industry to kill his love of the medium. He now spends much of his time over at Inside Fights where he gets to see muscle-bound men beat each up without retcons and summer crossovers.