By John F. McKenna (McJack)
Saturday night will see the culmination of the much heralded Super Six Tournament at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City when undefeated American WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KO’s) faces off against the tough Brit WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KO’s).
Both Ward and Froch have faced very stiff opposition on the way towards their respective championships. Froch has faced Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham and most recently Glen Johnson. His only loss was against Kessler who out boxed him.
Ward has faced Edison Miranda, Mikkel Kessler, Allan Green, Sakio Bika and Arthur Abraham. He has dominated all of his opponents and has looked impressive in doing so. He is one of those fighters who because of his skill has lost very few rounds.
Froch is an awkward defensive fighter and, although not a defensive genius, he has the ability to roll with punches, thereby reducing their effectiveness. Opponents find it difficult to land their punches against him with full power. In addition Carl is proficient at slipping punches. He has the ability to take his adversary’s best punches and still come forward to continue administering punishment to his foe.
Ward will most likely employ a strategy of using his superior technical skills as a boxer to confuse Froch. The Ward camp is fully aware that Mikkel Kessler and Andre Dirrell gave Froch a great deal of difficulty because they were able to outbox him.
Ward will attempt to get off to an early lead by using his faster hands to pile up points. He will use lateral movement to keep Froch at bay and will almost certainly go to the body to take some of the steam out of his punches. Ward has the rare ability to change gears in the middle of a fight. He has a very high boxer IQ and listens attentively to his trainer’s instructions.
Andre is fully award that Froch’s only chance at being successful is to turn the fight into a brawl. Froch will undoubtedly target Ward’s eye that was injured in training a couple of months ago.
Ward will most likely have too much skill for Froch to handle, but in any case both Ward and Froch are two very talented fighters who will give their all in what is hoped to be an entertaining fight.
