By Scott Gilfoid: The blueprint on how to beat WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (27-1, 20 KO’s) has already been created by both Andre Dirrell and Mikkel Kessler, so now it’s up to 41-year-old Glen Johnson (51-14-2, 35 KO’s) to faithfully follow that blueprint if he wants to get by Froch in their semifinals Super Six tournament fight next year. This is a do-or-die fight where neither fighter can afford to lose if they want to continue on in the tournament.

Froch, 33, has already tasted defeat once against Kessler in a 12 round decision loss in April of this year, and really twice if you count Froch’s gift 12 round split decision over Dirrell in October last year. It was a horrible decision, as Dirrell made Froch look amateurish for much of the fight and easily dodged or blocked almost all of the shots that Froch threw in the fight.

In the 5th, Froch began fouling like no tomorrow, throwing Dirrell to the canvas without losing points and then spending the better part of the remainder of the fight holding and hitting, shoving and throwing rabbit punches. I thought Froch should have been disqualified many times over for all the fouls that I saw him commit.

However, the fight was held in his home city of Nottingham, England, and he was able to get away with the fouls without losing points. However, Dirrell clearly showed how to beat Froch by using head and lateral movement to avoid his shots while pumping in a hard jab. When Froch comes in close, you drill him in the head with straight punches rather than the looping variety. Froch likes to loop his shots and he has no hand speed, so it’s easier to get your punches in before him.

Kessler used a different approach to beating Froch. What he did was use constant forward motion and three to four punch combinations to batter and wear down Froch. It worked perfectly, as Froch was gassed out by the middle of the fight and looked really unsure of himself in there.