By Scott Gilfoid: WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward says he sees IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (32-2, 23 KO’s) at the point in his career where he’s no longer looking for a tough challenger, but instead is looking for a less threatening opponent such as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. rather than himself or George Groves. Ward sees the 36-year-old Froch as having reached the point in his career where he’s looking to get the most money he can before getting out of the game.
“He [Froch] doesn’t want to fight,” Ward said to RingTV. “Froch is behind the scenes trying to get the weak link, which is Chavez Jr., but I can’t blame him. Froch is 36 or 37-years-old. He’s trying to cash out. He doesn’t want a real challenge like Groves or even myself, and that’s fine. But don’t bring my name up as much as you do, and act like you want to fight when you really don’t.”
I totally agree with Ward. I get the feeling that Froch is basically looking to cash out by getting the biggest and safest fights possible before he gets out of the sport. If a fight against Groves can make him more money than a Chavez Jr. match-up, then I expect Froch to take the fight against Chavez Jr., simply because he’s the safer contest. Chavez Jr. was schooled by middleweight Sergio Martinez in September 2012, and in his last fight, Brian Vera almost beat Chavez Jr. It’s painfully obvious that Chavez Jr. is the weak link right now and the easy mark for Froch compared to dangerous rematches against Ward or Groves.
Froch is kind of in a touch situation, though, after the International Boxing Federation ordered him to face Groves in the next 90 days. Froch now has to make up his mind whether he values his IBF strap enough for him to defend it in a risky rematch against Groves. If Froch is okay with having just the WBA title in his possession, then he needs to vacate the IBF strap and go ahead and fight Chavez Jr. with a clear conscious.
Froch does seem to mention Ward’s name every once in a while, and I guess the impression that Froch is name dropping. By mentioning Ward’s name every so often it keeps Froch’s fans believing that he wants to fight Ward again and avenge his defeat. But the fact that it’s now been three years since Ward whipped Froch in the Super Six tournament in 2011, it should be obvious to his fans that he’s just not up to the task. If Froch wanted the fight with Ward don’t you think he would have fought him by now? Instead of fighting the likes of Yusuf Mack, Lucian Bute, Mikkel Kessler or Groves, Froch could have faced Ward again and attempted to avenge his loss.
Comments are closed.