Neither were fatigued. Froch has proven to have the ability to come on strong down the stretch. He has superb conditioning. Yet he couldn't catch up to Ward to land anything on him. Being the 12th round means nothing. Loads of guys are fully conditioned to go 12 rounds. Ward and Froch were two prime examples.
Once again , Ward backed off because he had a broken hand , not because he was fatigued.. The injury kept him out of the ring for almost a year. Everybody knows this https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/7384318/andre-ward-had-broken-hand-win-carl-froch
You dont think fighters in the 12th and final round of a fight were tired/fatigued? Ok, I disagree, but agree with everything else in your post.
I havent disputed he had an injured hand. I've disputed your assertion that he wasnt tired/fatigued. His injured hand wasnt the cause of his open mouth and deep breaths. This isnt a knock on Ward, Froch was open mouthed and breathing heavily, too, as is pretty much every fighter in the 12th and final round. Even debating this point is odd.
The legs are the first thing to go when fatigue sets in. Ward was moving more in the the last round than Canelo moves over 3 rounds. I don't think you understand how boxing works. Ward simply could not have moved the way he did if he was fatigued. These are the facts.
So do marathon runners not run at the end of the race? Or are they not tired/fatigued? If not, why wouldn't they push themselves as hard as they could to run the quickest time?
Speed kills and I like JC by a close but clear decision at 168 and 175 - Andre was technically sound and good thinker in the ring but so was Joe who adjusted quickly. Basically this would be a chess match but I like Joes movement and speed to put the cherry on the cake and win a close UD