Froch-Ward: Will Carl start fouling like mad if Andre accidentally headbutts him?

By Boxing News - 09/20/2011 - Comments

Image: Froch-Ward: Will Carl start fouling like mad if Andre accidentally headbutts him?By Scott Gilfoid: I’m really worried about what WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-1,20 KO’s) might end up doing if WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KO’s) makes the mistake of accidentally hitting Froch with a headbutt or two.

I mean those thing happen in fights. You can’t really avoid them. God, I hope Froch doesn’t go ape and start blasting away with elbows, rabbit punches or other such fouls. Sometimes you get people that copy others, figuring that what’s good for them is good for you in a kind of monkey see monkey do type of thing. But I really don’t think this will work well for Froch, though for a couple of reasons.

First off, Froch won’t be fighting on his home country of England. I know over there he got a way with a massive amount of fouling against the talented Andre Dirrell in their Super Six fight in 2009, but this fight will take place in the U.S, where they frown on fighters that body slam their opponents, rabbit punch, hold and hit…etc. It depends on the referee, of course, because we jaw saw a referee turn a blinds eye to the fouling from Abner Mares in his fight with Joseph Agbeko recently. But for the most part, it’s pretty strict in the U.S in terms of rules.

Secondly, if Froch starts fouling like no tomorrow, it will get him away from his game plan, he’ll probably be fighting angry instead of thinking strategically and he won’t be able to think straight. If Froch takes the fight to the gutter, he’s just going to get beaten even worse by Ward, because the talented American is a much better inside fighter than Froch.

So when/if Froch starts with the fouling in retaliation for an accidental headbutt, he’ll probably loses his senses completely and start fighting like a wild man. You can’t beat the Mayweather-like Ward by going primitive. You have be fighting like a chess player, ignoring the occasional fouls and sticking to your game plan.

Froch already hinted that he would repay Ward with fouls if he got fouled himself. That’s what I’m afraid of – Froch losing control completely and dropping down to a primitive nature for this fight. Sure, he can do that but it’ll be stupid as heck. That’s what I see Froch doing unfortunately. It’s too bad, because he’d do a lot better if he kept his head together when and if he got hit with a headbutt or two.



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