By Mark Young: Carl Froch has publicly said that Glen Johnson will provide him with the biggest test of his career to date, Carl heaped praise on Johnson’s warrior-like ability in the UK tabloids where he acknowledged the road warriors attributes and paid respect to his longevity and the experience he will carry into the ring. Froch was quoted as saying “I have yet to see Johnson take a step back in a fight. He will come marching forward putting pressure on me, but I’ve prepared properly for him”.

Carl made no secret of the fact he’s taking the road warrior very seriously, which is a sensible thing to do when you are facing an opponent as heavy handed as Glen Johnson. The dignified manner in which Froch has repeatedly talked about Johnson contradicts those sensationalist writers who chose to carefully dissect Carl’s interviews in order to extract slurs from complimentary quotes. It’s a shame that some corners are prepared to twist comments to suit their agenda as Carl has nothing but genuine admiration for his Jamaican opponent.

If there’s one man on the planet who has a legitimate claim that Froch is obnoxious and rude it would have to be Joe Calzaghe, Carl openly tried every trick in the book to coax the Welshman into the ring and sadly for British fight fans he failed, despite a public tit for tat spat in the tabloids the two have since become acquainted and respectful towards each other. On live radio Froch expressed regret at some of the comments he made in order to taunt Calzaghe into the ring, Calzaghe then came out and said that Carl Froch is by far the most exciting boxer Britain has right now pouring scorn on the TV companies who have consistently ignored Carl in favour of cherry picking fighters.

It is a good thing that Froch has paid particular attention to the road warrior, his fourteen losses would seem to indicate a washed up journeyman, sadly they reflect a non American who has had more than his share of injustices in the ring stateside, something both Froch and his trainer Rob McCracken have acknowledged. Johnson has considerable power and follows up instinctively when he senses weakness in an opponent, his work rate is phenomenal considering his age, his current physical condition proving that the road warrior has taken his whole career seriously.

Glens overhand right can change the game at any time and I see Froch doing his best to stay well out of range, I am sure Glens high output of punches will be something that Froch and McCracken have worked on, with Froch reverting back to his precision punching combos coming off the back of his Cobra like jab. Froch has been branded a slugger by some writers, this is naive and ill informed, indicating that they have done two minutes worth of research on youtube, watching the Pascal and Taylor fight. Carl was quoted by thesun.co.uk as saying this: “I will be picking my punches carefully; I won’t go in looking to throw big bombs because that’s the way to come unstuck”. If there’s one thing Carl does need to do is up his work rate a little and not allow himself to be overwhelmed as he was in the middle rounds against Kessler. Carl is the original Lucian Bute in the respect he has a great array of body shots that he can launch from awkward angles, unlike Bute however Froch is the real deal and has continued to pitch himself at the best opponents the division has to offer him, which in turn has won over those who were initially skeptical about the 168lb fighter.

I see Carl Froch out pointing Jamaican legend Glen Johnson in this fight, though I am not making too much of Johnson change of weight or age, someone as professional as Johnson will not be as adversely affected by the drop in weight as a Roberto Duran or Ricky Hatton type who ballooned between fights and nor will he have aged so badly. I have seen Johnson’s wife accompany him in his negotiations before fights which indicates just how business like the road warrior is about his training, it’s a family deal and shows the support he can rely on when he’s got to focus on his training, it really is a business for the Johnson’s and they know that he needs to stay on top of his game. I don’t see Johnson or Froch getting knocked out in this fight, I am not convinced it will be a fight of the year contender either, I am sure Froch has wizened to the fact he doesn’t need to launch into an all out offensive against the elite in the division and knows he needs to concentrate on what he does best, picking off guys was lead laden precise combinations that sap the will of his more industrious opponents.