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Britain’s number one fighter stands on the edge of greatness in Atlantic City on December 17 as he fights the fight of his life against Andre Ward in the Super Six final, defending his WBC belt and aiming to take Ward's WBA strap.
The Nottingham star has fought the best in the Super-Middleweight division in a sequence of contests that lesser competitors would shy away from.
Froch first picked up the WBC Super Middleweight belt in a fantastic fight in his hometown against Canadian Jean Pascal in December 2008, taking the points decision in a brutal brawl. Four months later the Nottingham man then announced himself to the American public with a stunning performance in Connecticut defending his title against Jermain Taylor.
Pre-fight, Taylor mockingly asked ‘who is Carl Froch?’ and the former undisputed champion enjoyed early joy against Froch, seating him for the first time in his career in the third round. But Froch staged a dramatic turnaround in the very final round, knowing he needed to deliver a knockout and doing exactly that, with a barrage of punches felling the Arkansas man once before the referee stepped in to stop the contest with 14 seconds remaining.
Froch joined five other Super Middleweight stars in the Super Six and began against Andre Dirrell in Nottingham in November 2009 and edged a tough split decision to retain his WBC belt and get his first points on the board.
Next up for The Cobra was a trip to Denmark five months later to face Mikkel Kessler, who had just lost his WBA belt to Ward. Both men enjoyed periods of success in an entertaining contest, but it was Kessler who took the unanimous decision and Froch’s belt as he tasted defeat for the first time in his career.
Froch had to wait seven months to bounce back and he took his chance with great style, turning on the performance of his career to reclaim the then vacant WBC belt against Arthur Abraham. Froch ventured into the adopted backyard of his opponent, taking on the former IBF champ in Helsinki and producing a masterclass to regain his title and taking every round on two judges’ cards, dropping just one round on the other.
His reward for the win was a semi-final meeting with Glen Johnson at the Boardwalk Hall in June. Johnson had replaced Kessler and knocked out Allan Green to reach the last four, and Froch kept the teak tough veteran at bay to reach the final through a majority decision
As an amateur, Froch picked up a bronze medal at the 2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before turning over to the professional game alongside his current trainer Robert McCracken, who will guide the Great Britain boxing team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Froch picked up his first professional title in his tenth fight with a seventh round stoppage over Alan Page netting him the English Super-Middleweight belt in November 2003. Further honours followed quickly as he added the Commonwealth title in April 2004 and then the British title came in his second defence of his Commonwealth strap. In total, Froch held the British title for over four years and the Commonwealth title for just under two years, defending the former three times and the latter four times before relinquishing both to move to World level.
