Holy Froch!—Son of God Defangs the Cobra.

Date: Saturday, December 17, 2011
Venue: Boardwalk Hall – Atlantic City, New Jersey
Promoters: Goossen Tutor Promotions
Coverage: Showtime Championship Boxing – Super Six World Boxing Classic
Commentators: Gus Johnson, Al Bernstein & Antonio Tarver
Ring Announcer: Jimmy Lennon Jr. & Joe Antonacci
Referee: Steve Smoger, Randy Neumann & Allan Huggins
Photos: www.christoneyphotography.com

I sat ringside, next to stunning Canadian journalist Nancy Audet, elbows under my chin, eyes wide open as Andre Ward (24 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 13 kos), the WBA super-middleweight champion, methodically dissected WBC champion Carl “The Cobra” Froch (28 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 20 kos) over 36 minutes of fighting, removing all doubts trouncing the Englishman and adding his belt and the Super Six World Boxing Classic trophy to his collection. Round-after-round Ward was two steps ahead of Froch, who looked like a virtual amateur eating jabs, being side-stepped like an enraged bull, check-hooked as he slid past Ward unable to put the brakes on his awkward rushes. The Son of God seemed to reside inside Froch’s head, stealing his thoughts, knowing his every move like a diabolical pugilist who wanted everyone to accept that he was indeed on the upper echelon of the sweet science pyramid.

They didn’t listen to me after Froch was handed an early Christmas present via a majority decision over my countryman Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson in the semi-finals of the tournament on June 4^th. Allow me to quote myself:

“They might as well take the trophy to the engraver and have Andre Ward’s name etched into it in bold silver letters because Froch will not beat the American. There is a reason Ward is a 2004 Olympic Gold medalist, nobody is going to outbox or outscore him. He will beat Froch at his own game. Call me Nostradamus because I know what the froch is going to happen!” (The Mouthpiece – June 4, 2011).

I could have sat at home and watched the action. However, I wanted to be in the building to witness Ward’s pugilistic prowess neutralize the entertaining and divinely flawed Froch and muzzle the raucous British fans. There wasn’t much singing by the Brits as their man was frustrated and bewildered, looking like a deer in the headlights on the Atlantic City expressway arguably winning only two rounds because Ward took a respite from dominance. The WBA champ’s speed was a little too much for Froch who was beaten to the punch every time. Whenever, he attempted to mount an offense, he was stymied with an array of punches—jabs, hooks, uppercuts and straight rights as Ward countered brilliantly and side-stepped.

At close quarters, Ward turned the pages of the Bernard Hopkins’ Manual on In-fighting letting loose with one hand while locking his opponent’s elbow with the other—releasing and relocking making sure that the infraction was undetectable to Smoger on the blind side. Who said Ward didn’t know how “to get down and dirty?” Inside, outside it didn’t matter as the Englishman was befuddled, beguiled and bested. Andre Ward was a gloved mongoose reducing the Cobra to a garter snake as Rachael Cordingley—his foul-mouthed, jaw-dropping, gorgeous girlfriend— sat in her ringside seat speechless watching punches ricochet off of her man’s cranium. Call me Nostradamus, but I predicted that this would happen.

It never ceases to amaze me how people who have never spent a minute in the squared circle are such experts on the sweet science. With Facebook as the vehicle to exercise their First Amendment Rights, my page has become a forum of insightful commentary, diatribe and sheer nonsense—oftentimes the theater of the absurd. On Monday, December 19^th, two days after Ward dominated Froch, I had to come to his defense. In response to a post that Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez would beat Ward I responded, as follows:

“Andre Ward is not Leonard, Hagler or Hearns.  However, he is a technically sound fighter who understands what he has to do to get his opponents to fight on his terms. He isn’t flashy but nevertheless he is effective. Martinez is a reflex fighter who is much too technically deficient to beat Ward. Interestingly, he is the type of fighter that is tailor-made for Ward. To use a basketball comparison, Ward is the Tim Duncan of boxing – fundamentally sound, unassuming but gloriously effective. There is a reason he is an Olympic Gold Medalist and continues to beat everyone he faces. Martinez gets hit too much and fights one way. Ward would pick him apart and neutralize him—much too easy for Ward. You need someone with Mayweather’s boxing acumen and mastery of the small nuances of the sweet science to beat Ward.”

“I thought Andre lost two rounds,” stated promoter Dan Goosen at the post-fight press conference. Maybe me, Goosen, the majority of press row and Judge John Keane are in need of eye examinations because we all saw the fight 118-110 for Ward. Or, the more reasonable conclusion is that we have a compelling case of the Two Blind Mice since the other two judges—Craig Metcalfe and John Steward had it 115-113 for Ward. How they scored five rounds for Froch has me dumbfounded! Maybe Froch was awarded three points for his ring walk—Welcome to The Jungle by Guns N Roses which blared over the house speakers as he made his way into the ring decked out in his traditional black attire.

Other Results: In a scheduled eight-round light-heavyweight bout, Colombian pugilist and perennial contender Edison “Pantera” Miranda (34 wins – 6 losses – 0 draws – 29 kos) won by technical knockout at 2:15 of the fifth round over Kariz Kariuki (24 wins – 9 losses – 2 draws – 19 kos) of Tampa, Florida by way of Nairobi, Kenya. Light-heavyweight Cornelius “Da Beast” White (17 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 15 kos) of Houston, Texas upset former Cuban amateur standout, Yordanis Despaigne (9 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 4 kos) of Coral Gables, Florida winning a unanimous six-round decision by scores of 60-53 and 59-55 twice. Bristish welterweight Kell “Special K” Brooks (25 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 17 kos) won by technical knockout at 1:35 of Round 5 in a scheduled 10-rounder against Luis “El Taino” Galarza (17 wins – 2 losses – 0 draws – 13 kos) of Antioch, Tennessee. Heavyweight Bowie “Bo” Tupou (21 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 16 kos) of Los Angeles, California by way of Nukualofa, Tonga won a unanimous 10-round decision over Donnell “The Real Touch of Sleep” Holmes (33 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 29 kos) of Ivanhoe, North Carolina. In other heavyweight action, John “The Breed” Lennox (7 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 3 kos) of Carteret, New Jersey was all business as he stopped Jeremiah Witherspoon (2 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 1 ko) of Trenton, New Jersey at .50 of the third round of their scheduled four-rounder. Junior-middleweight Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson (6 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 3 kos) of New York, closed the show by knocking out Daniel Lugo (1 win – 2 losses – 0 draws – 0 kos) at 2:01 of Round 3 of their scheduled six-rounder.

Maybe his humble demeanor is why many have underestimated Andre Ward who continues to box circles around the top fighters in the super-middleweight division. The non-believers are now clamoring for him to face either IBF champion Lucien Bute or WBC light-heavyweight champion Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkin—both men were ringside enjoying the action. However, I am confident that I have a better chance of beating Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the planet, in the 100-meter than Bute and Hopkins have of defeating Ward. Then again, Hopkins, the aspiring thespian, could fall on his “good” shoulder en route to a disqualification victory!

Continue to support the sweet science, and remember, always carry your mouthpiece!

ghanson3@hotmail.com



Comments are closed.