2013- The year that Carl Froch was finally found out?

As a British boxing fan I have always suspected that one of the reasons for Carl Froch's lack of mainstream appeal was his attitude. Proclaiming yourself to be an "international superstar" and "second only to Lennox Lewis" is not going to be particularly well-received by a nation whose sporting mentality is based upon modesty, manners and class both in victory and defeat (baring a few notable exceptions).

I, and many others, found Carl Froch's manner in victory over George Groves to be classless, arrogant and plainly delusional. By refusing to acknowledge the brilliance of his opponent on the night and instead claim he was dominating the bout shows a side of Froch that has always been there (from disparaging Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward to his own proclamations of greatness), but for some reason the media have never held him to account for.

Froch has always dined out on the myth of a "great resume" but the reality is that he has never been number one in his division, never held a Ring belt and has lost twice (including once to a ruined Mikkel Kessler). In addition Jermain Taylor was miles ahead before he gassed, he was very very lucky to get a win over Dirrell (who embarrassed him at times) and was punished for nine rounds by Groves before getting the benefit of a controversial stoppage.

Froch is clearly terrific against fighters who stand straight in front of him and are prepared to go to war. Against anyone with speed, head movement and ring generalship he will always struggle, and struggle badly. He is a one-dimensional fighter and it has always astonished me that someone so limited (and so arrogant) has been lionised for so long. I admire the guy for his ability to take one hell of a shot, but beyond that his boxing skills are so limited he does not deserve to be mentioned anywhere near a Calzaghe, Ward, Jones, Toney or maybe even Benn and Eubank.

Froch's camp have lashed out at the fans in Manchester, but the reality is that true boxing fans are not fickle or delusional. They appreciate the hell a fighter goes through in a camp and a fight and when they see something plainly unjust (as it was with Groves) they will show support for the right man, irrespective of their allegiance before the fight. Instead of finding reasons to attack the fans and Groves, Froch needs to sit down in the cold light of day and watch the fight and his interview afterwards.

If he can somehow find some humility he may be able to undo some of the damage inflicted on his career that night. Through his own attitude he has forced himself into a lose-lose situation where he either rematches Groves and almost certainly loses badly or fights another fighter and tarnishes his legacy by facing accusations of ducking a Groves rematch. Despite Froch's service to the sport I am not sad to see either of these scenarios. If he had not refused to shake Groves' hand and had praised Groves for the magnificence of his performance then he could probably get away with a JCC Jr fight in Vegas, which despite being a bit of a cop-out nobody would begrudge him. Instead he is facing a nightmare entirely of his own making, and it has been a long time coming.

 

Somebody that hasn't lost to a ruined Kessler (no shame in losing to Ward who is clearly superb) and relied on beating blown-up middleweights and old men. Save for Pascal (who lost to an old version of Hopkins) and a clearly over-rated Bute, Froch hasn't beaten anyone to justify the amount of shouting and screaming over his resume. If he didn't make it the centrepiece of his "ATG" argument then I doubt people would scrutinise it so heavily. It's a good resume, not a great one.

 

He had to give Groves a shot otherwise would have lost his title. He got pasted for nine rounds and doesn't have either the humility to admit it nor the guts to give Groves a rematch. Apparenty his fight with Ward was close enough to oblige Ward to give him a rematch though...

 

Noted but this seems to be the first time the boxing public have refused to swallow his nonsense. I'm delighted with the shift in opinion. He was given far too easy a ride considering some of his proclamations, especially when they were in stark contrast to his lack of real skill.