Carl Froch Needs to Get Back to Basics
Boxing Skills are Often Forgotten when Fighters Reach World Level
Nov 7, 2009
Carl Froch was a highly successful amateur boxer, versatile and skilled enough to capture two ABA Titles and the bronze medal at the 2001 World Amateur Championships. He was lauded as much for his movement, poise and versatility as he was for his power.
Fast-forward eight years and Froch is the proud holder of the WBC Super-Middleweight title. With a professional record of 26-0 (20KO’s) he reigns as Britain’s only world champion. However, at thirty-two years of age Froch’s skills appear to be atrophying, the poise and composure that elevated him to world championship status discarded in favour of a swarming, brawling approach, with defence something of an after thought.
Froch, rather than maturing and developing as a world champion, appears to have regressed. This is not to say that he is not a proud and determined warrior who deserves to sit near the top of the current world rankings, rather quite the opposite. Carl, in neglecting the boxing fundamentals that anchored his earlier approach to the sport, has had to show copious levels of heart and determination in order to overcome his most recent challengers, Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell. Froch’s power and resilience proved the deciding factors in both these fights and might also provide an insight into his late career stylistic transformation.
Power Can Seduce
Like a number of British champions of recent vintage Carl may have been seduced by his own power and resilience. In defeating unbeaten Canadian strongman Jean Pascal Froch proved he could go toe to toe in a war and come out on top. His chin stood up to everything the heavy handed Canadian was able to throw at him.
Emboldened by this fact he approached his first defence against Taylor as if invulnerable. Taylor disavowed him of this, dropping the Nottingham man for the first time in his career. However, Carl rallied from the brink, took the best Taylor could offer and eventually turned the tide.
However, in doing so he may have been seduced by an even more damaging illusion. Powering to a last gasp twelfth round stoppage, Froch’s power proved the deciding factor. Sadly it appears to have convinced him that he can blow through anyone he is able to hit. In his fight against Dirrell Carl showed all the classic signs of a man who thought he simply had to connect solidly to demolish his opponent.
Winging hooks and uppercuts, lunging in wildly and winding up huge right hands that repeatedly sailed wide or were ducked under by the nimble American, Froch looked like a relative novice last month. Dirrell boxed rings around Froch for large sections of the fight, scoring with the jab repeatedly and timing Carl’s increasingly desperate rushes with relative ease. His southpaw style and penchant for switch-hitting befuddled the plodding champion and he made Froch look alarmingly easy to hit. Froch, on stamina and determination alone closed the gap in the later rounds, pounding out a close victory.
Now styles make fights and it is just possible that Dirrell flaunts the approach guaranteed to give Froch the biggest stylistic headache. However, Carl hampered his own efforts by neglecting the jab, failing to work the body and completely disregarding head movement and mobility. Froch has always held his left hand low, using shoulder rolls and upper body movement to avoid punishment. However, anyone who was watching him for the first time would have been astonished to realise that this was the same man who had demolished Brian Magee, Tony Dodson and Robin Reid. Poised and precise Carl lived up to his nickname of “The Cobra” on his way to the title. There was little evidence of his boxing skills against Dirrell.
Froch is Not Alone in Forgetting the Basics
Naseem Hamed, in the infancy of his professional career, received as much praise for his defensive adroitness as his crushing power. His superlative upper body movement meant he was almost impossible to tag with a truly damaging shot. His finest early career performances, against Belcastro and Robinson saw him box with patience and intelligence. His combination punching and defensive elusiveness provided a package too difficult for any of his opponents to unwrap. Though by the time he had established himself as world champion and riding the wave of a succession of knockout victories his style has subtly morphed into that of a stalking puncher.
His victories over Augie Sanchez and Kevin Kelly, while both wildly exciting, took a lot out of “The Prince.” He, like Froch was forced to call on his (under-rated and often unappreciated) fighting heart to secure victory. Hamed, it appeared, had fallen victim to his own hype. Sadly the knockout specialist who thrilled crowds around the world would prove to be ultimately less effective than the elusive boxer-puncher who first rose to prominence. It took Marco Antonio Barerra to hammer home this point to Hamed in 2001.
Ricky Hatton presents another case in point. Buoyed by the success over Kostya Tsyzu, achieved in no small part to a relentless, swarming attack, he neglected the boxing skills that once complimented his ferocity. The face first brawler he had become was consequently no match for the more cultured violence practiced by Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio.
The Future For Carl Froch
At thirty-two years of age it is unlikely that Froch will learn any new tricks. What is of paramount importance is that he does not continue to neglect the ones he has already assimilated during his twenty years in the sport. If he can learn from the mistakes made by his illustrious compatriots he is more than capable of extending his run at the top of the sport. There will be many nights where power, bravery and resilience will win the day for the Nottingham man. However, as Dirrell showed (and Kessler is likely to confirm), against the most skilful or durable opponents he cannot continue to neglect the fundamentals.
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