By Scott Gilfoid: WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KO’s) is no longer knocking out opponents like he did earlier in his career. The old power just isn’t there for Froch. Indeed, Froch has only knocked out two opponents in his last eight fights, and hasn’t recorded a knockout since stopping the fragile-chinned Jermain Taylor in 2009. Some would say Froch is getting old, but I think he never really was a big puncher to begin with.

Froch wants to halt his knockout drought on October 29th in the Super Six finals against World Boxing Association WBA) super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KO’s) at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The chances of Froch knocking Ward out are pretty low given that Froch hasn’t even staggered any of his last four opponents. In fact, it’s been Froch who was the one getting hurt, as he was staggered by Andre Dirrell twice in their fight in 2009, and then staggered against in his loss to Mikkel Kessler in 2010. Yet Froch still believes he’s going to stop Ward.

Here’s what Froch had to say to Sky Sports News about stopping Ward: “The perfect fight for me is to outbox my opponent and catch up with him late on in the fight, really put the pressure on and get the stoppage to excite the fans. I’ve been a bit disappointed in my last fights, not because I’ve not been in great fights, and done the business, but because I’m not got the stoppage. Against Ward, I’m going to to connect with a hurtful shot on the jaw section of the cranium and do some serious damage.”

It sounds like Froch is dreaming. If anyone is going to get knocked out in this fight it’s going to be Froch. I think the fact that he’s no longer knocking guys out is really suggestive that his power is utterly overrated. He’s basically a slow arm puncher, and even when he loads up on his shots, he still can’t hurt the top fighters. Froch’s knockouts have pretty much come against C level guys earlier in his career. When Froch stepped it up a couple of levels to the A class, the knockouts stopped completely.

A true knockout puncher continues to knock guys out when they get to the A level. Just look at guys like George Foreman and Julian Jackson, for example. I hate to say it but Froch is really just a slugger but one without the power needed for the craft. It’s too bad. He’s going to get schooled badly by Ward on October 29th. It’s not going to be pretty. I can see Froch stumbling around the ring, missing punches and getting countered left and right. He’s going to look like a silly novice in there with Ward. I just hope Froch gets a clue at some point during his beating that a knockout won’t be happening, and maybe he’ll focus on just trying to cover up make it to the final bell.