WBA super middleweight champ Andre Ward won a twelve round unanimous decision over a determined Sakio Bika in Oakland, California. It's hard to look good against the rugged and awkward Bika, and Ward ended the fight bruised and bloodied due to a combination of butts and elbows. Ward, however, demonstrated his toughness and was clearly the superior fighter. Scores were 120-108, 118-110 and 118-110. This bout was outside of the Showtime Super Six super middleweight tournament but Ward, to his credit, wanted to stay busy against a tough opponent in preparation for the tournament semi-finals.
In Helsinki, Finland, the Super Six match-up between Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham for the vacant WBC super middleweight title was expected to be a close, competitive bout ... but Froch had other plans. Rather than getting lured into a slugfest with the shorter but heavy-handed Abraham, Froch demonstrated incredible discipline in executing his game plan to perfection. Froch used his jab effectively from a safe range and simply outworked Abraham, who made no adjustments during the fight's first eleven rounds. Abraham, knowing he needed a KO to win, finally applied pressure in the 12th round, but it was too little, too late. Scores were 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109.
With the third round of Super Six Tournament complete, the semi-finals are now set as follows:
#1 Andre Ward vs. #4 Arthur Abraham
#2 Carl Froch vs. #3 Glen Johnson
Comments
The Froch-Abraham fight, in my estimation was on the one hand remarkably dull to watch, but brilliantly fought by Mr. Froch. Every round demonstrated that smart ring generalship and talent can overcome devastating power, but power without real skill or imagination. Abraham is a notoriously slow starter and very mechanical. He was simply outsmarted, had little or no movement, and was unable to land much if anything. This was a very easy fight to score, but was so boring that it was difficult to watch.
Yeah Mr. Wolberg, but Froch is hardly going to turn the match into a slugfest just to please you is he? In my opinion it was not boring as the contrasting styles of the two men made it always interesting and one had to admire Froch’s patience is keeping to his game plan of boxing at long-range and picking up points with his accurate jab. It was obvious that he wanted to try and stop Abraham in the last few rounds but he heeded his corner’s advice to stick with what he was doing and it worked. If only he had been as conscientious as this in his fight with Kessler, where he missed with the half the punches that he threw, then he would have won that fight easily as well. I’m looking forward to a Ward v Froch final.
Mr. Autar makes some excellent points. But I did not mean to be critical of Froch. Of course it would not have been smart to stand toe to toe to Abraham in the early rounds. Abraham is a powerful puncher. But he has no movement, cannot adjust well and is vulnerable to fast and smart fighters. Froch did lose the Kessler fight, and the intesity and quickness of both Kessler and Froch, as well as the clear heart of Kessler, made that a very good fight. Both had something to prove, perhaps Kessler had to win to maintain his stature, and Froch did not want to lose to maintain his then no loss record. In the end, Kessler got the nod. I did say Froch fought a good fight, smart and quicker than Abraham. But it was a boring fight, one round much like the other, and there were more interesting matches going on at the same time at HBO. In many ways the Showtime tournament has been a disappointment, although the Glenn Johnson win was very satisfying and, just maybe, Johnson will emerge the best of all.