Britain’s Carl Froch booked a berth against unbeaten rival world champion Andre Ward in the Super Six Boxing Classic final by taking a majority decision on Saturday over Glen Johnson.
Froch retained his WBC super middleweight crown by defeating his 42-year-old Jamaican-born foe in the eyes of two judges by scores of 117-111 and 116-112, while the third scored the fight a 114-114 draw.
“I started off slow, but towards the end I was throwing more punches,” Froch said. “I thought I won the fight easily. I don’t know what that other judge was thinking.”
Photo: AFP
After more than two years, the tournament has finally reached a unification showdown between Froch, 28-1 with 20 knockouts, and US star Ward, the WBA champion, who is 24-0 with 13 knockouts.
Ward booked his spot in the final last month with a unanimous 12-round decision over Armenian-born German Arthur Abraham in Los Angeles.
Froch’s only loss came 14 months ago to Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler, but an injury forced Kessler out of the tournament and he was replaced by Johnson, who booked his bout with Froch by stopping countryman Allan Green in November last year.
“He was very tough,” Froch said of Johnson. “He was like an oak tree.”
Johnson, who fell to 51-15 with two draws, suffered his fifth consecutive loss in a world title bout over a five-year span. The prior title fights came at light heavyweight, before he dropped down in weight to box in the Super Six.
“It was a close fight, but I can’t argue with the decision,” Johnson said.
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