By Gav Duthie: Just because you accepts something doesn’t make it right. The word all around him is that Carl Froch is going to retire, but whilst he contemplates his decision his titles have been ripped away from him. Just under one year ago when Carl Froch beat George Groves, yes, in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley in case you didn’t know, he was the WBA regular and IBF champion.
Now he has neither where as Andre Ward is still the WBA super champion despite having not fought since the back end of 2013. Even when Ward is due to fight again in June 20 against Paul Smith he still won’t be defending his title.
The bout is a catch-weight contest at 172lbs with no titles on the line. I’m not saying that Froch shouldn’t be stripped he has admitted himself he has no problem but my question is why the double standards. The WBA is already a farcical organization with most fans confused regarding who the actually champions are but to me it keeps getting worse.
Carl Froch
I understood him losing the IBF title, no problem there. Both James DeGale and Andre Dirrell had fought in tough eliminators (Brandon Gonzalez and Derek Edwards respectively) and either deserved a shot at the title. The IBF ordered the defence against DeGale as mandatory and Froch turned it down. As a result he said he wouldn’t stand in DeGale’s way and the title was rightly removed. With regards to the WBA they have imposed no such sanction. It was reported that they had ordered Ward-Froch 2 but both parties were just as guilty in this fight not happening. As it stands Ward couldn’t make the weight anyway so it amazes me that Froch who defended his title in May 2014 loses it and Ward who defended in November 2013 keeps his.
WBA Super and Regular
Two titles in each weight class three if you include the Interim champion has to be the most nonsensical feature in all of boxing. How many times has the regular champion actually fought the super champion. It hardly ever happens because the WBA want two champions not one. Guillermo Rigondeaux recently requested a mandatory fight with regular champion Scott Quigg but the silence was deafening. Floyd Mayweather Jr. as great as he is last defended his 154lb titles in September 2013 against Canelo he hasn’t even fought i the division since. He has 5 major titles which he is set to relinquish but nobody would dare impose mandatory challengers on him.
Double Standards
In the case of Andre Ward he hasn’t been injured his lack of activity was contractual problems but he is still champion. Carl Froch will likely never fight again and if he does it will just be for one big fight. In many cases it will actually be easier to not have titles when negotiating fights with the likes of Golovkin for example. I also don’t get how Felix Sturm’s one draw at Super Middleweight and 12 fight novice Fedor Chudinov were allowed to fight for the WBA world title.
Final Thought
All I am looking for from the governing bodies is some sort of consistency. It seems to be one rule for one and another for someone else. I’m quite sure a lot of this is motivated by money but boxers and fans alike would just like some clarity from boxing which seems to be moving further away everyday.
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