Froch: Andre Ward’s times running out for him to decide

By Boxing News - 03/29/2015 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: The World Boxing Association recently ordered negotiations to begin between WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) and WBA Super World super middleweight champion Andre Ward (27-0, 14 KOs). However, Froch wants the fight to take place in the UK, and it’s unclear whether Ward is going to go along with Froch’s wishes. As such, Froch says that Ward’s time is running out for him to speak up whether he’ll fight him.

Froch seems to be in a real big hurry when it comes to the Ward fight, and I’m not sure why. Froch is willing to wait on a fight against former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, so he should be willing to wait on an arguably much more important fight against Ward. I mean, the last time I checked, Ward was unbeaten, and considered the best fighter in the super middleweight division. Chavez Jr. can’t claim either of those things going for him.

Chavez Jr has been beaten before, and he clearly isn’t the best fighter in the 168 pound division. At this point, I’m not even sure if Chavez Jr is the 5th best fighter in the super middleweight division. I don’t know what a victory over Chavez Jr will do for Froch’s legacy other than proving that he can do what was already done before by Sergio Martinez, as well as Brian Vera, Carlos Molina and Matt Vanda. Vera, Molina and Vanda all fought well enough to deserve victories over Chavez Jr in their first fights against him, and yet all of them were given very, very questionable defeats.

“It’s been a couple of days of Ward maybe taking the challenge for the WBA’s mandatory,” Froch said via IFL TV. “If he comes to England and I’m on fire like I was against [Lucian] Bute, who knows? I think I could chin him. Times running out. That clocks ticking. He already said he won’t come to Nottingham [UK]. He said he might come to England, but he’s not coming to Nottingham, which is a real shame. I don’t think he’ll come.”

When Froch was asked who he thinks he’ll fight next, he said “Chavez, potentially in August, September, after the conversation I had with Eddie [Hearn].”

Well, Froch isn’t in any position to dictate where the Ward fight will take place. If Hearn and Froch aren’t able to reach an agreement with Ward for the date and location of the fight, then it’s going to go to a purse bid, and then Hearn and Froch will have to try and out-bid Ward’s promoters at Roc Nation.

I don’t see Hearn out-bidding Roc Nation, I really don’t. I can see Hearn getting out-bid just like he was when he was out-bid on the James DeGale vs. Andre Dirrell fight.

According to Steve Kim, Ward is interested in taking a tune-up bout against either Marco Antonio Periban or Rogelio “Porky” Medina in a fight that would likely be televised on HBO Championship Boxing if HBO gives the greenlight to the fight. Once Ward gets the tune-up bout out of the way, he’s presumably be ready to face Froch, whether it be in the UK or the United States.



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