Carl Froch Shuts Out a Clueless Arthur Abraham

Carl Froch regained his WBC super-middleweight title with a complete shut down of feared power-puncher Arthur Abraham.

Per his style, Arthur Abraham started very slow in the opening rounds. He plodded after Carl Froch, who kept him at bay with sharp jabs. But unlike previous Abraham opponents, Froch used his long arms to whip shots around Abraham’s guard. The body, an area much neglected by past foes, was a concerted target for Froch. He constantly shot hooks and straight rights downstairs, and on several occasions let loose with hard flurries.

By the middle rounds, Abraham ran into brick wall when he tried to step up his offense. Usually, Abraham is able to bully forward and back down fighters with hard hooks. But Froch would counter with hard jabs and hooks of his own. In the sixth round, Froch repeatedly snapped Abraham’s head back with jabs. The seventh round showcased the Nottingham fighter bullying Abraham into a corner, and unloading with power shots. Whenever Arthur Abraham tried to assert himself, he received 3-4 punch combinations in return. Not every shot landed clean, but they were enough to keep Abraham in a defensive shell at a time when he’s normally used to taking over.

In the championship rounds, it was Carl Froch looking for the KO. A defining moment of the fight came in round 11, when Abraham was visibly hurt by a hook to the body. He complained to the referee, a tactic he used regularly in his native Germany. The ref ignored his complaints, and Froch pounced with several more body shots.

Arthur Abraham’s only positive moments came in the 12th, when he landed two hard right hands. Froch took them well, and clinched to prevent a significant follow-up. After resetting, he coolly went back to working his jab and making Abraham flail at him in vain. Froch immediately celebrated at the bell, knowing that he had delivered the most dominating performance of his career.

Final scorecards for the bout read 119-109, and 120-108 twice for Carl Froch. The decision gives Froch his second win of the Super Six, and rebounds from a close decision loss to Mikkel Kessler earlier this year. Along with regaining his WBC super-middleweight title, he now has four points heading into the semi-finals early next year.

Arthur Abraham loses his second consecutive Super Six fight. He still holds three points courtesy of his knockout win over Jermain Taylor last year. 

The Super Six semi-finals will feature Andre Ward vs. Arthur Abraham, and Glen Johnson vs. Carl Froch. The winners will meet to crown the Super Six champion by the end of 2011.

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If you’ve never watched Arthur Abraham before tonight, you’d be hard-pressed to figure out why anyone had him as one of favorites going into the Super Six. King Arthur was horrible tonight. He fought with no sense of urgency or much skill. At many times, Froch turned the contest into a glorified sparring session.

I don’t think much will change for Abraham when he meets Andre Ward. He’ll have the same problems he had with Dirrell, except Ward won’t falter down the stretch.

The big fight no one will want to miss is Carl Froch against Glen Johnson. Neither man likes to give ground, and Froch won’t be able to back off Johnson with just a few counter shots. It’ll be a dogfight for sure.

Any early predictions, people?