Carl Froch has reacted uncharacteristically to criticism from old foe Andre Ward that seemed to downplay his achievements in the ring.
For a brief spell before retirement, American Ward, who was Pound for Pound King, recently aired a stinging attack on Froch.
“The thing about Carl Froch, and I always respected him, is his competitiveness because he’s not athletic. He’s an overachiever,” Ward told Sky Sports.
“You look at him, and just the way he fights, there’s nothing that jumps out at you that says, ‘wow, that’s a great fighter.'”
In an astounding response, what came back at Ward was nothing short of dumbfounding.
Andre Ward
“I think that was spot on, to be honest, that was good,” Froch also told Sky Sports. “Overachiever? Maybe.
“Andre Ward, a top fighter. I can’t argue with his opinion, if I’m honest. This is coming from a guy who beat me quite conclusively on points.
“If Jermain Taylor was a bit fitter and he had a bit more steam in the tank towards the end, he might have survived and won on points. But he didn’t have any energy left in the tank because I sapped it out of him.
“I absolutely punched holes in him for the last three rounds.
“Andre Ward beat me fair and square on points in a boring fight, a dull affair. It is the same as when he beat Kessler. Headbutted him to bits, but he knows how to win.
“He wins ugly, but he knows how to win,” he added.
‘The Cobra’ would usually come out all guns blazing against anyone who came at him as Ward has, but maybe he’s mellowed out of late.
World Boxing News interview
It wasn’t long ago that Carl Froch was exclusively telling World Boxing News precisely what he thought of Ward.
“As a boxing fan, I’ve never been excited or thought about tuning in to watch an Andre Ward fight. Do you ever rush back to watch a Ward fight? He’s a boring fighter.
“Nobody wants to broadcast his fight because he’s boring. HBO didn’t renew his contract. They canceled it due to nobody tuning in to watch him, which is why he decided to retire.
“It’s public knowledge. It isn’t me making things up. I got told myself that the channel didn’t want to give him a new contract. It forced him to retire as no other network was interested in him either.”
