In a fight that failed to live up to predictions of being ‘Fight of the Year’, Carl Froch regained his WBC Super Middleweight belt by a unanimous decision over Arthur ‘King Arthur’ Abraham at the Hartwell Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
From the opening bell Froch used the jab, keeping Abraham at bay. Abraham, residing in Germany, had his moments, catching Froch with the occasional big right or left hand but he never really had the fighter from Nottingham, England in serious trouble at any point in the bout.
Toward the end of round 6 Froch looked temporarily disorganised as he was caught with big shots but he battled back immediately. At this point, it was suspected that Froch floored Arthur with a left hook but the instant replay revealed that the hook missed and Froch’s left arm wrapped behind the Armenian’s head, pushing him to the canvas.
By round 9, Abraham looked worse for wear when he went back to his corner after being rocked by a big left hand.
When the final round came long, it looked a formality win for Froch as he continued to jab the stalking Abraham but was hit with a right hook that rocked him briefly.
However, when the bell rang to end the bout the scores were in no doubt.
Burt Clements had it 119-109 but the other two judges, Oren Shellenberger and Max DeLuca were in agreement of 120-108 for Froch.
Carl did well tonight and showed, as he did in his fight with Pascal, that he can use his boxing skills when he has to and that he is not just a puncher with a low work rate.
Since Abraham and Froch had already qualified for the semi finals of the Super Six tournament, a rematch has been ordered.
Let’s hope the next one turns into the type of bout that we expected tonight!
