Froch vs. Johnson and the Super Six Yada Yada Yada

I realize it's the 11th hour, but I figured I'd talk about the fight between Carl Froch and Glen Johnson later this evening.  While Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be fighting Sebastian Zbik for the Middleweight title on HBO tonight, Glen Johnson will be fighting Carl Froch for his WBC Super Middleweight title on the competitor network Showtime.

             Froch                                        Johnson

Froch-Johnson is the second of the two semifinal bouts in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic.  Before I get to the fight itself, I'll talk about the tournament, which I've been meaning to do for some time now.

The tournament was originally a good idea for Showtime.  It secured six of the best Super Middleweights (perhaps the only noticeable ones other than Lucian Bute) on their network for several fights each, with two belts circulating.  It was also a good way to get casual fans thinking about boxing.  Rule of thumb for all sports: people love tournaments.

Things didn't go the way they should have, though.  People stopped caring.  Three of the six boxers dropped out of the tournament along the way, some rules were changed, and Andre Ward kept kicking everybody's ass. At this point it's essentially been reduced to a pesky formality that boxers have to go through to fight Andre Ward, who will proceed to beat them in unanimous decision-fashion.

Andre Ward touch you with his gloves more than you will touch him with your gloves.

On top of all that, on something of a side note, the name of the tournament is too damn long.  How the hell does a long name like "Super Six World Boxing Classic" stick?  Talk about over-zealous.

Anyway, now to talk about Andre Ward's next victim.  It's either Briton Carl Froch or the Jamaican veteran Glen Johnson.

JD's Tale of the Tape


                              Carl Froch                         Glen Johnson
Record                    21-1 (20)                           51-14-2 (35)
Stance                    orthodox                           orthodox
Height                     6' 1"                                  5' 11"
Reach                     74.5"                                 75"
Age                        33                                     42
Title                        WBC                            

Froch has an awkward fighting style.  He often lunges forward with his punches, instead of twisting his hips and torso to generate torque.  His defense is solely based on movement and tying up; he keeps his hands down when he is not punching (Ali-esque).  Needless to say his style is effective, as seen from his (rather impressive) twelfth round knockout of Jermain Taylor.

Glen Johnson is a slugger, reminiscent of a vintage Mike Tyson, without the consistency.  He has lost to many great opponents over the years, and he's quite old now, but he still has the power.  He has been known to tie up fairly often, though.  His most impressive career feat was his KO of Roy Jones Jr.

Frankly, this could be a boring fight.  Both guys tie up often--then again, both guys have knockout power.  Let's hope for much explosiveness and lots of excitement.

JD's Prediction


Froch knocks out Johnson in the 5th round.  The card starts in 6 minutes, so I should probably go watch.

-JD