Carl Froch vs. Glen Johnson: 15 Bold Predictions for the Fight
Saturday night in Atlantic City, N.J., Showtime wraps up the semi-final round of their Super Six, Super Middleweight Tournament when Carl Froch and Glen Johnson collide.
The winner will advance to face Andre Ward in the tournament final. And the winner of that fight will hopefully fight Lucian Bute, so the world will finally know once and for all who's the man at 168.
Fighting out of Nottingham, England, the 27-1, 33-year-old Froch will look to ride youth over experience vs. the 42-year-old Jamaican native. Johnson enters Saturday's fight with a professional record of 51-14-2.
Boxing fans have every reason to expect this to be an entertaining contest. The following 15 "bold predictions" address what I see as some of the more compelling aspects of the fight going in.
Making Weight Won't Be a Big Problem for Johnson
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Before getting the call to sub in for the Super Six tournament, Johnson had not fought at super middleweight in almost 10 years, and many commentators speculated that he would suffer from cutting again at 40.
Instead, Johnson looked youthful in knocking out Allan Green. He now openly speculates that he was really too small to have been fighting at light heavyweight all along (don't tell Roy Jones Jr. that).
Froch Will Be a Lot Tougher for Johnson to Push Around Than Allan Green Was
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Make no mistake--Johnson looked great knocking out Allan Green in his first Super Six fight.
Moreover, in finishing Green, he did what the tournament favorite and current division kingpin, Andre Ward, could not do.
Just the same, against Green, Johnson was able to bully an opponent who was probably fighting a little bit above his head, talent-wise.
Carl Froch presents an entirely different order of business. Froch has fought and won against elite competition.
He's been in the big fights before--maybe not as many as Johnson, but enough to feel fully confident and battle tested. "The Cobra's" conditioning and his chin are legendary.
Johnson Will Show Froch Some Tricks He May Not Have Seen Before
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Froch is no green kid, but with almost 70 professional fights under his belt, and a lot of them in front of unfriendly crowds, Johnson long ago earned his nickname of "The Road Warrior."
You don't fight at the level Johnson has for as long as he has without being a master of the craft.
Froch's only other opponent with over 40 fights, Mikkel Kessler, outworked and outmaneuvered Froch for a unanimous-decision victory.
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Froch Won't Be Able to Count on a Questionable Hometown Decision
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Like the majority of boxing fans outside of Britain, I feel pretty strongly that Andre Dirrell got robbed in front of a partisan Nottingham crowd in the first round of the Super Six.
Dirrell was able to accurately land on Froch consistently throughout the fight, and the only real answer that Froch seemed to have was to get rough and turn it into a brawl in spurts.
I'm not saying it was a complete beat down. I'm not even saying it was the worst decision of all time (Whittaker-Chavez).
I'm just saying Dirrell won that fight and so Froch is lucky to even be here at this point. And give him credit--he's made the most of that break since.
I'm Just Saying: Glen Johnson vs. Bernard Hopkins Somewhere Down the Road
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Okay, just to bring everybody who has bothered to read this far up to speed: Glen Johnson is the OTHER 40-something professional boxer who is still competing at the very highest level in the 168-175 pound range.
This fight would have tremendous crossover, mainstream appeal to aging baby boomers and Gen-Xers. They both have other fights lined up in front of them for the foreseeable future.
But Hopkins and Johnson have both indicated a desire to keep fighting high-profile fights indefinitely, age be damned, and so far neither one has give any indication of being unable to keep performing in the ring.
It's not too hard to envision the stars that might need to align to make this one happen in the next couple of years.
Froch Will Attempt to Keep Johnson Away with His Jab
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Froch does a great job of employing an active jab, and he puts some starch on it. This presents problems for a tough, pressure fighter like Johnson.
Working along with the jab, Froch will also...
Froch Will Try to Use Lateral Movement to Get Angles When Johnson Presses
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Froch is a brawler to be sure, but he's a world-class boxer, too. Along with a strong jab, Froch has very nice lateral footwork.
Great jab, great lateral footwork--it's not too different than the game plan Chad Dawson used to earn two tough decisions over Johnson at light heavyweight.
Johnson Is Going to Put on a Head and Shoulder Movement Clinic
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While Froch is trying to move side to side and create angle, expect to see Johnson holding his position more often and using shoulder rolls and head bobs to lure Froch into a more stationary, punch-counter punch, kind of battle.
Expect Johnson to slip inside early and often, so he can do what I predict he will do in the next slide coming up...
Johnson Will Punish Froch's Body
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Johnson is a punishing body puncher. Even in his first loss to Dawson, he was very effective attacking the body, which created openings on Dawson upstairs that nearly led to a 10th-round KO.
Even when he was losing rounds on some scorecards during his fight against Allan Green, Johnson was softening Green up for the kill with his shots to the body.
Johnson knows that Froch is a younger, highly conditioned fighter who plans to push the tempo. His plan for dealing with that problem will be brutally simple: If you hit the other guy in the body over and over, really hard, he will inevitably stop moving so fast.
If Froch Leaves His Hands Down, Johnson Will Make Him Pay
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Froch's no Palooka. But he has shown a bad habit for leaving his hands low.
Andre Dirrell took advantage of this tendency to land often during their first round match up, and it cost Froch again in his only professional loss to Kessler.
A crafty veteran like Johnson will be looking to end the fight in a hurry if he sees those kind of openings.
Froch's Conditioning Should Allow Him to Hustle Some Close Middle Rounds
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Speaking from a place of pride, Glen Johnson might tell you that he plans to contest every second of every round against his younger opponent.
In the heat of the battle, he's likely to pick some spots to coast defensively, while biding his time. This should give Froch a chance to steal a couple of rounds.
Showtime Will Find a Camera to Put on Froch's Girlfriend, Rachael Cordingley
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It's not really relevant to the match up, but I know the average Bleacher Report Reader always has an eye out for the next WAG who looks good on camera.
Rachael is the kind of true-blue Liverpool gal who gets emotional watching her boyfriend fight and generally manages to make a charmingly sincere spectacle of herself.
Neither Fighter Will Break Down Mentally
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Both Froch and Johnson have repeatedly turned in gritty, gut-check performances against elite competition. Both men know how to swim in the deep waters.
They both have physical vulnerabilities, but heart and will power should not be a question for either man.
Froch Is Going to Try to Run Johnson Straight into Middle Age
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Froch has openly stated that he believes age will be an issue in this fight. He has been respectful when addressing his older opponent's body of work and accomplishments in the sport.
But he's also insisted that Johnson's 42-year-old body will not be able to sustain the pace he plans to set.
Ultimately, Johnson's Experience Prevails in a Unanimous-Decision Win
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Johnson will be able to match Froch's pace when he needs to. Most of the fight, expect Johnson to use his superior skill set to make Froch fight Johnson's kind of fight.
If Johnson manages to punish Froch with enough regularity, expect him to be the one pushing the pace down the stretch.
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