Hunter: We would have knocked out Carl Froch

I think they maybe contemplating a rematch with The Cobra. I hope that is the case because Ward hasn't quite ticked all the boxes yet. To do that he maybe needs a stellar win abroad.

He had everything his own way in the Super Six, and frankly the final of that tournament should have been over two legs, home and away. With the option of a decider on neutral ground. Why wasn't that final on neutral ground anyway! Just didn't seem quite fair.


So according to Hunter, Ward ko's Froch with a good hand. Seems a touch fanciful that- Dawson looked like a stick insect the other night. Elite fighters shouldn't be going down to that first shot that put Dawson down. Good shot that it was.


With Ward running out of opponents and not looking to move up any time soon, Froch only needs to keep winning to make this return a very viable option for Ward. And a chance for the Oakland winning machine to travel. And that is something many fans feel he needs to do.

the final was in new jersey, not in ward's home town and it could have been on mars and it'd have the same result. 2 legged final? nothing like milking it for all it's worth.

ward v froch is only going to result in a ward win.

Im not even convinced Hearn or Froch would particularly want a rematch with Ward even if it was held in Nottingham.

manos de piedra wrote:Im not even convinced Hearn or Froch would particularly want a rematch with Ward even if it was held in Nottingham.

very true. he knows he was well and truly outclassed.

Froch has a granite chin but isnt invincible, he can be knocked out but Ward isn't the fighter to do so

Ward is very skilled , smart and calculated but despite the Dawson result he hasn't show a lot of power. Dawson was a great win but for me the fight being at 168 took a bit out of Dawson and he looked weak when taking shots. He has fought bigger guys and caught with better punches then the ones that put him on the canvas

Wards best power punch is the left hook, froch is open to the straight right and if a shot puts him down it will that punch. If Kessler can take 12 rounds of flush shots and not go down them froch won't. Froch was never buzzed in 12 rounds and it won't change second time around

Much as I like Froch, Ward is too skilful and technically gifted for him, I'd bet on ward to beat him 10 out of 10 times. Froch has restored his career after that devastating win over Bute, rematching Ward would put him back in the same spot. Not a good idea IMO.

maybe froch might take the rematch on his last outing, but he should chase kessler first and maybe fight pavlic or somebody after, make a few quid, he deserves it.

Id say the longer Froch waits for a rematch the less chance he has of winning. Hes getting older while Ward is getting into his prime. I also think he would be a bit wary of retiring on a loss. If he could beat Kessler in a rematch I would bow out then with a very satisfying end to a good career.

I think Ward might be in trouble if he tried that.

Ward and travel just dont happen.

I wish it did so we could see the mentality of him.

Until then im undecided.

mobilemaster8 wrote:Ward and travel just dont happen.

I wish it did so we could see the mentality of him.

Until then im undecided.

Presumably then, you were also undecided on Roy Jones when he was pound for pound king as well?

Ward is the best in his weight class by a country mile - so far ahead of his rivals that comparisons are pointless. He's not obliged to travel for anyone. Yes, we'd all like to see world champions risking their titles all over the globe, but that's seldom the case for the dominant champions these days. It's not as if Ward is the first world champion in history to consistently fight from his home base, is it?

It's nothing new.

At least Roy ventured out of Florida once in a while. Wards fought in his own state 9 of his last 10 fights. Whatever about leaving your own country to fight this lad really hasn't left his own backyard of late.

All the skills in the world but i agree with mobilemaster that it would be nice to have seen him get out there a bit. Ward wasn't topdog prior to the Super 6 yet still managed to fight every fight bar the final in his backyard. I don't understand how he managed that one.

Yes, but in those fights in which Jones ventured outside of Florida, how many times was he really giving away any notable advantage? Not many, if at all. I don't think Jones fighting in, say, Mississippi was all that different or more trying than fighting in Florida was.

I agree that it would be great to see world champions risking their titles all over the shop, but for reasons right or wrong, that's not the norm these days - and that particular template was in place a long, long time before Ward hit the scene.

As others, particularly Manos, have alluded to, I'd maybe understand the outcry a little more if Ward had edged some close decision on his way to the top, or if he'd featured in some fights where you get the imression that a change of venue could have altered the outcome, but he's been in neither kind of bout.

As to the original topic thread - i can't see Ward ever stopping Froch. Froch ahs one of the best chins P4P and Ward albeit being great is not a collosus puncher.

I think Ward would beat Froch 95% of the time but on points everytime.

I'm not expecting him to defend titles all over the shop especially now that he's clearly the best in his division and up there p4p. I just didn't see how he could have all his fights at home in the super 6 when he was not the biggest name and when everyone else had to give up home advantage at some stage. Clearly his promotor did a good job but it irks me that home advantage was clearly something Team Ward didn't want to give up.

Wards come a long way and has improved with pretty much every performance but are you saying there is no chance things would have been different had he had to face Kessler in Denmark first fight out? We're still not sure how he travels so whos to say he might not have froze in that scenario. Up to then he hadn't fought anyone like Kessler. Put him in the Lion's Den against the tournament favourite while hes still relatively green and strange things can happen. Hes really gotten into his rythym now and I find it hard to see him getting beat but as I said the above scenario would have been nice and interesting.

Big admirer of Froch but for me Ward is a cut above anyone in the division, doesn't matter where they fight Ward wins handily.

Ward seemed stronger in every department against Froch even inside which suprised me.

I think that fight could have been fought in Vegas/LA/MSG. But Oakland??

Ward does need to leave the bottom of his street for his fights.

That said, it wouldnt make a difference, who is going to beat him??

And as for the OP, no way Ward KO's Froch, he couldn't even knock out an exhausted skinny Dawson. The stoppage was due to Dawson giving up.

It annoys me that ward got the wba title shot against kessler who had to travel over from Denmark. When Froch fought Kessler he had to travel away from home.

He defended his titles in the states away from the UK and even did it against Ward.

So why cant Ward go over and fight someone in hostile territory??

Froch and Kessler had to, so why cant he??

Super Six was run by American TV networks so of course they gave their home fighters all the cards.

mobilemaster8 wrote:It annoys me that ward got the wba title shot against kessler who had to travel over from Denmark. When Froch fought Kessler he had to travel away from home.

He defended his titles in the states away from the UK and even did it against Ward.

So why cant Ward go over and fight someone in hostile territory??

Froch and Kessler had to, so why cant he??

I wouldnt really argue with that, his scheduling in the Super 6 was the most comfortable. But I would dispute that the outcomes of the fights would be any different. You said you think Froch would beat Ward in Nottingham which to me is taking the whole homefield advantage thing too far. I cant see the basis for it given both how the first fight went, and what Ward has accomplished in his career as a fighter. He also fought Froch in Atlantic City which although it was in the United states, was a far distance from his home town.

Essentially if it will be argued that the difference between Froch winning or losing to Ward is based on where they fight, then Id have to think nearly every fight that a fighter wins that is not in their opponents backyard is open to the same speculation. In close fights, between two evenly matched opponents then certainly that speculation is natural. But at what point is a win comprehensive enough, or a gap in ability big enough to render such specualtion as unneccessary?