By Bradley Hastings: WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch looks well on the way to securing his place in the Super Six World Boxing Classic Tournament later next year following his impressive victory over former middleweight champion Arthur Abraham. Following his close defeat to the talented Mikkel Kessler, many pundits had Abraham as the favourite for their previous encounter, and claimed Froch would not only get knocked out, but his career would be all but over. The saying “never kick a man when he’s down” seems to spring to mind, and in true British fashion, Froch dusted himself off and put in an outstanding professional performance in reclaiming his WBC belt.

Of course Carl still has some difficult fights ahead of him, and his first obstacle is the rough, tough veteran Glen Johnson. But in the current era of boxing and many other sports, age is not the hindrance it used to be. Glen certainly brings experience to the table, along with some decent power, but throughout his up and down career, there has never really been a consistency there, and after accumulating 14 defeats in his career against some mediocre opponents, almost every time he steps up a level the gulf in class is there to see, and when he steps in the ring with Froch, that gulf will be seen again.

But this fight will certainly be no easy ride. Froch will have to keep his guard up and defend well like he did against Abraham, because we know Carl likes to slug it out when the opportunity arises, and has a tendency to keep his arms rather low which can be worrying. But after going 12 toe-to-toe rounds with the likes of Jean Pascal, we know Carl has an exceptional chin, and a fighters spirit when he gets in the trenches. But it still seems many pundits, and critics do not have faith in his ability, even with names like Taylor, Dirrell, Pascal, and Abraham on his resume, and even the Kessler fight, which although I do think he lost that fight, the margin of defeat was very fine, and Froch acquitted himself reasonably well.

My prediction: Carl Froch vs Andre Ward in what would be a truly exciting Final, certainly one of the most difficult match ups Froch will have in the tournament, but I think if anything has been learnt from Froch’s recent fights, its never rule this guy out.