Hearn: What does Andre Ward bring at the moment for Froch?

By Boxing News - 03/05/2015 - Comments

hearn5677By Scott Gilfoid: If WBA Super World middleweight champion Andre Ward is going to get a fight against WBA regular super middleweight champion Carl Froch it’s going to take some give on Ward’s part, because Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn feels that they have all the advantages over Ward in terms of popularity.

But with the WBA ordering the fight, Froch and Hearn are going to need to give a heck of a lot in the negotiations if they want to keep the WBA title.

If they simply refuse to give ground during the negotiations, then it’ll go to a purse bid, where Ward’s promoters at Roc Nation Sports will have a good chance of winning the bid.

“He [Ward] doesn’t carry the draw in the U.S. At all,” Hearn said via Skysports.com. “What does Ward bring at the moment? Unfortunately Carl dictates everything in this fight. It is not that big a fight in America…we have to have as many advantages as possible.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPW5OW5jJ54

So there it is. Hearn wants as many advantages as possible for Froch for a fight against Ward. However, Ward is the top champion with him being the World Boxing Association Super world middleweight champion and Froch just the WBA World super middleweight belt holder. Ward is considered to be the best fighter in the 168 pound division, and Ward has a previous win over Froch. Further, Ward is seen as the best fighter in the 168 pound division; whereas Froch is considered either #2 or #3, depending on whether you consider Froch to behind Andre Dirrell, given that Froch arguably was soundly beaten by Dirrell six years ago in the Super Six tournament.

If Hearn expects Ward to knuckle under and give ground during the negotiations, I think he has another thing coming. Ward says he’s not going to let Froch dictate terms to him, which means the negotiations would surely go to a purse bid just like the James DeGale v Andre Dirrell negotiations have gone to a purse bid.

If Hearn and Froch don’t like that, then they’re going to have to give up the WBA title by vacating it. That would leave Froch without a title, as he already vacated his IBF title rather than face DeGale.

If Froch vacates his WBA title rather than negotiate the fight with Ward, it’s going to make Froch look like he’s ducking all the real threats in the division. With Froch not fighting DeGale, Ward and the Dirrell brothers, you have to wonder why Froch is even holding a title. You can make an argument that he should give up the WBA strap if he’s not going to defend it against Ward, the Dirrell brothers and DeGale.

“If this fight does happen, Froch is not dictating anything. He must have fell a bumped his head,” Ward said. “Froch could have gotten this fight years ago, but it took the WBA mandating the fight for him to step up. SMH. This guy.”

Does this seem like a guy who is going to let Froch and his promoter Hearn dictate terms to him? I don’t think Ward is going to give ground for a second, which means that Froch is going to need to negotiate on even terms or else the fight will go to a purse bid.

“Carl is very, very difficult to beat in the UK, particularly Nottingham,” Hearn said.

After seeing Froch win a very, very, very controversial fight over Andre Dirrell in Nottingham, I have to agree with Hearn about Froch being difficult to beat in the UK and especially Nottingham. I thought Froch lost the fight to Dirrell by a lopsided decision, yet two of the judges had Froch winning the fight, even though he mainly only landed punches against Dirrell when the two of them were in a clinch.

Froch wasn’t landing shots when the two of them were separates, as Froch was missing all night long. If Ward has to deal with judging like that, I don’t think there’s anything Ward can do to defeat Froch aside from knocking him out cold.



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