ATLANTIC CITY– Carl Froch vaulted into the final of the Super Six world Super Middleweight tournament majority decision over Glen Johnson at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom inside of Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Not only does Froch advance to face WBA King Andre Ward but he retained his WBC crown in the process.
After a non discript first round, Johnson started to up the pressure in round two as he came forward and landed a big over hand right. Froch had a good beginning of round three as he dipped in and out landing some swift combination’s. In the latter part of the round Johnson landed some nice right back that sent Froch back on his heels. Round four saw Froch box and move in a similar style to his wipe out points victory over Arthur Abraham where he seemed to have his timing down by landing solid combination’s while on the back pedal. Froch had a solid round six by continuing to land three punch combination’s that was sandwiched in between a big right hand that Johnson landed on the ropes.
Round seven was a terrific back and forth battle as Johnson book-ended the round with two big right hands but Froch got some of his own work done as they went back and forth on the ropes. Round eight was a crowd pleasing round to say the least as the two traded bombs to show off their granite chin’s. Johnson landed a couple of thuddding rights while Froch got through some solid lefts hooks. Froch upped his rate and timed Johnson throughout round nine by landing combination’s and in the process did-int give Johnson a great opportunity to get off. Round’s ten and eleven continued to feature great action as the round’s were difficult to score as Johnson would land the one big punch of the round wheras Froach would put together the consistent combination’s. The two traded combination’s down the stretch with Froch’s work rate being the difference
Froch of Nottingham, England is now 28-1. Johnson of Miami, FL is now 51-15-2
Edison Miranda was on his way to a comeback trail and faced off against Rayco Saunders in a light heavyweight catch-weight bout scheduled for eight rounds. Miranda, whose body looked relatively well for the higher weight. The bout started at a methodical pace. Miranda utilized a lot of movement, but was still able to maintain the aggressive nature that made him so popular. The third round changed things, as Miranda was able to land a hard right hand that staggered Saunders. Miranda followed up with multiple right hands that was able to make it through the guard of Saunders. After multiple right hands, Sunders was able to make it out of the round and regain his composure. The bout turned into a tactical affair for the rest of the fight. Miranda methodically worked his way to a 79-73, 79-73, and 80-73 scorecard giving him the unanimous decision victory.
Miranda’s record improves to 34-5 with 29 knockouts and Saunder’s record takes a hit at 28-13 with 8 knockouts.
Former light heavyweight title holder, Zsolt Erdei looked to improve his undefeated record against Byron Mitchell in a fight scheduled for ten rounds. Erdei had moved up to Cruiserweight from some time, but then realized that he had unfinished business in the division where he holds the lineal claim to the Light Heavyweight Championship of the world. This would be his second fight back, and Mitchell would serve as that stepping stone back to prominence.
The fight started extremely well for Erdei. He had no problem fighting tough against his larger opponent, as he had gotten used to being the smaller man in the ring during his cruiserweight days. Erdei landed multiple wide combinations to get around Mitchell’s high guard. As the fight progressed, Mitchell became more comfortable with his opponent and managed to throw some combinations in retaliation. Erdei then slowed the pace and instead of coming straight forward, he would simply side step and throw a straighter punch. This work very effectively for him. In the sixth round, a hard jab set up a powerful right hook that sent Mitchell down flat on his back. Mitchell beat the count, but was met from an absolute onslaught from Erdei. Finally, a right hand bomb sent Mitchell down, and the referee called a stop to the fight as he saw that Mitchell was completely out of it. The time of the stoppage was 1:58 of the sixth round.
Erdei’s record improves to 33-0 with 18 KO’s while Mitchell’s falls to 28-8-1 with 21 knockouts.
“The first fight, I was a little homesick,” said the Hungarian native, who spent most of his pro career fighting in Europe. “This time I had more preparation and more time to get used to being here. It showed in the ring.”
Looking ahead, Erdei, who held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2004-2009 before giving it up for a brief stint at cruiserweight, many possibilities in the talent-rich 175 lbs. division. A chance run-in just hour before his fight had his mind on one man in particular.
“I met Bernard Hopkins at the bakery in Caesars just before the fight,” said Erdei. “He was a real gentleman and we have a great mutual respect for each other. It would be an honor to fight him.”
In the third fight of the evening, rising prospect, J’Leon Love took on the very tough Lamar Harris in a middleweight bout scheduled for six rounds. e bout opened with Love landing combination after combination, staggering Harris on several occasions. As the fight progressed, Harris looked more confident, landing hard left hooks flush against Love’s face. Even still, Love did significant damage with his fast combinations. Towards the end of the fight, Love was in complete control and managed to land a powerful hook that sent Harris down, but not for the count. Harris was able to get his legs back under him, but it was too little too late. Love kept on the pressure and came away with scores of 40-35 from all three judges.
Love improves to 7-0 with 5 KO’s while Lamar Harris has his record pegged down to 6-8-3 with 4 KO’s.
Ivan Redkach scored a sixth round stoppage over Alberto Amaro in the final scheduled round of their Lightweight bout.
Redkach landed some hard combinations and was dominant. At the end of round five, Redkach landed a hard right hook that sent Amaro to the deck. Redkach landed three hard shots to end the round and referee Steve Smoger was close to ending it as the bell sounded. Smoger did call a halt to the action in the final round after Redkach continued his assault on Amaro at 1:46.
Redkach, 136 lbs of Los Angeles, CA is now 7-0 with six knockouts. Amaro, 134 1/2 lbs of Cantano, PR is now 6-6.
Swedish born Light Heavyweight Badou Jack scored a fifth round stoppage over Hajro Sujak in a bout scheduled for six rounds.
Jack landed some nice combination from the outset. he continued to batter the game Sujak throughout the contest. At times Sujak showed signs of life by landing some shots in between Jack rallies. In round four, Jack landed some thudding body punches that eventually came upstairs on Sujak. Sujak began to bleed badly from the mouth. In round five, Jack continued to beat up Sujak until Sujak’s corner threw in the towel that was recognized by referee Eddie Cotton at 1:30 of round five.
Jack, 174 1/2 lbs of Las Vegas via Sweden is now 6-0 with five knockouts. Sujak, 173 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 6-2.
Official Attendance: 2,286
Carl Froch, WBC Super Middleweight Champion/Super Six Finalist:
“Everyone is finally starting to acknowledge what I’ve done in successive fights.”
“I wasn’t 100% happy with my performance, because I’m the kind of guy who likes to unload my shots. I didn’t do that enough tonight, but I did enough to win.”
“Johnson is a big, strong light heavyweight and he can hang in with everyone. He is a proud, strong man. He was fading towards the end because I was hitting him.”
“It was a professional performance tonight, which I’m proud of. I did enough to win without taking too many risks.”
“I’m going to stay on the ball. I will have a little bit of a rest, and I’ll go back and see my baby boy Rocco. But, I will stay straight and stay fit.”
“You always learn in every fight. Tonight I solidified that I can box on my last foot and give Ward problems doing that.”
Eddie Hearn, Froch’s Promoter:
“Carl deserves the utmost respect from everyone in the world. He is a real fighter. We don’t have enough people like Carl Froch in boxing.”
“We’re going to build his fight with Andre Ward for what it is: a unification fight between the two best super middleweights in the world.”
“I don’t think there has been anyone who has fought, successively, so many top opponents. Carl is just a fighter.”
Glen Johnson:
“My team has done a wonderful job with my career every since I teamed up with them. We have come up on the short end of the stick sometimes, and they have never given up on me.”
“For me, I will just go home and put more effort into it and see what I can bring next time.”
“It was a close fight. There was a lot of give and take. He hit me with some solid, clean shots.”
“Carl can fight. He is tough. We look forward to seeing a great fight between the two men who have made it to the finals.”
Lou DiBella, Johnson’s Co-Promoter:
“If you don’t love Glen Johnson then you don’t love boxing. It is an honor and privilege to be his promoter and to be his friend. You never get less than 100% from Glen Johnson.”
“Everyone on this team respects the heck out of Carl Froch. If Andre Ward thinks he will have an easy night, he is very wrong.”
“It was a very close fight going into the seventh or eighth round. Glen tried to take him out with one punch and Carl adjusted.”
Leon Margules, Johnson’s Co-Promoter:
“People who came here tonight saw a spectacular fight between two great warriors and champions. Anyone who saw the fight and knows boxing can appreciate the kind of battle Glen and Carl had.”
“For a 42 year old athlete to fight twelve hard rounds like that is a spectacular feat.”
“I’m not disappointed in Glen’s performance; I’m only disappointed in the result.”
