In the past six to nine months I had become quite cynical when it comes to professional boxing. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the sport. And for me there is no other sport that can be as exciting as boxing. However, it seemed to me that the fights I was covering, as well as the ones I was watching on television, had a certain predictability. Champion boxers fighting opponents who they knew they could win against. The Pacquiao, Mosley fight seemed to demonstrate this all too much. I am not going to debate Pacquiao’s decision to fight Mosley here, but it did seem to fit the pattern. I started to ask myself what had happened to those legendary battles that I hear some on press row speak of. What happened to the Ali, Frazier type fights?

But then something happened. On the same weekend in April, Salido knocked out Juanma and Ortiz defeated Berto by unanimous decision. And then two weeks ago, Bernard Hopkins won a hard fought fight against Jean Pascal. My faith in boxing was starting to be restored. The fight between Carl Froch and Glen Johnson was another one of these fights. Going in to the fight I had picked Froch, but I also knew that Glen Johnson had a good shot at winning. This was a match-up that had a certain air of unpredictability. This was a fight that could excite any true boxing fan, and Froch and Johnson did not disappoint.

Froch and Johnson approached each other with caution in the first couple of rounds. From my vantage point, in the first round I could not see either fighter follow their jab with any type of punch from their right hand. The two circled the ring, occasionally throwing a jab, for the full three minutes. The second round started the same. And then finally, the two clashed, starting what would be a truly exciting fight. Froch may have been the first to throw a combination, but Johnson was the one pressing the action in that round. He began to follow up his jab with his right. Johnson was coming forward, and Froch was moving back. Near the end of the round, Johnson had trapped Froch in the corner.

Froch was quick with the jab in the third round. Froch was still circling the outside of the ring in the round, and Johnson was still coming forward. Once again Johnson was able to catch Froch on the ropes. But Froch was throwing more and more. The majority of these shots seemed to be landing on the arms of Johnson, and Johnson seemed to be landing the cleaner shots. But as in any sport with judges, this seems to be something influenced by preference and vantage point. Personally, I scored the round for Johnson, but I am fully aware that someone sitting somewhere else may have seen something I had not. And some people are more impressed by sheer volume of punches thrown. It was clear that it was anyone’s fight at this point.

The fourth round started with Johnson still more in control of the fight. Froch was throwing his jab lazily. His jab often starts down at his side and comes up, leaving him open to be hit. Johnson landed a hard jab in the round that seemed to stun Froch some. But Froch ended the round strong with a combination. Johnson came out in the fifth and once again started to press Froch back. He was able to catch Froch in the corner. However, Froch was still throwing more in this round. Although Johnson kept his hands up, making it hard for Froch to land his punches, some of Froch’s punches were still getting through. Johnson was still landing the cleaner shots, but he was not throwing nearly as many as Froch.

Froch started the sixth round with a combination. He threw a second combination before Johnson had thrown anything of any significance. As the round progressed, the two were getting more aggressive. At one point, Froch was throwing a combination to the head as Johnson was countering with a combination to the body. Now this is what boxing should be. In the seventh, Johnson kept up with stalking Froch down. He kept pressing forward, making it hard for Froch to plant his feet and throw clean, effective shots. Johnson landed two hard rights. Froch seemed unfazed by it. Johnson once again got Froch on the ropes, but Froch spun out away from them. The eighth round started with Froch throwing combination after combination. This did not slow Johnson down. He kept coming forward. Johnson was employing his right hook in the round, and Froch seemed to be slowing down. As the round came to an end, the crowd could be heard cheering Johnson, Johnson.

Froch clearly was out throwing and out landing in the ninth round. And for the first time in the fight Johnson was actually starting to move backward. At the end of the round, referee Earl Brown had to jump in and separate the two. In round ten, Froch did more to keep the fight in the center of the ring. The two battled back and forth. At one point, Froch looked hurt but came right back at Johnson with a combination. Still, many of Froch’s punches seemed to be landing on the arms of Johnson. Then as the round came to a close, Froch seemed to surprise Johnson with hit to the face.

In the championship rounds, Froch looked to be more in control than Johnson. In round eleven, Froch threw combination after combination. He caught Johnson on the ropes. Even when Johnson landed a hard shot, Froch would come right back at him. The twelfth still saw Froch in control of the fight. Johnson was looking tired. Froch was able to stagger Johnson with a shot. Johnson was able to get off a few hard shots right before the bell, but the round clearly belonged to Froch at this point.

Nobuaki Uratani scored the fight 114-114, while Mark Green scored it 116-112 and John Stewart 117-111. Scores don’t always tell the whole story. As I said, vantage point as well as preference of style all comes into play when scoring. Without a doubt, Froch out threw Johnson. Did Johnson land more clean shots than Froch? It seems to be a case where reality is somewhat relative. But one thing is for sure. Carl Froch and Glen Johnson gave the fans a great fight.
 

In the fight before Froch and Johnson, Light Heavyweight Edison Miranda defeated Rayco Saunders. In the first three rounds, Miranda established dominance over Saunders. Saunders, a tough journeyman fighter, had his moments, but probably not enough to convince the judges that he had won any of those rounds. In the fourth it seemed that maybe it was all over. Saunders seemed to be doing little more than moving around the ring to avoid Miranda. The crowd was getting restless, yelling to Saunders to either fight or get out of the ring. For a moment this seemed to have an effect on Saunders. He threw a couple combinations but quickly went back into a defensive mode when hit by Miranda.

In the fifth Saunders started to pick up his attack. It was now Miranda moving backward trying to avoid being hit. At one point Miranda started to slip but caught himself before going down. By the end of the round, Miranda began to calm down and once again take control. In the sixth round, Miranda was taking his attack to the head and body of Saunders. Although Miranda’s punches looked solid, they still seemed to have little effect on Saunders. Then as the seventh round began, Saunders came running out into the center of the ring. Miranda just kept throwing jab after jab. In the eighth Saunders was able to knock Miranda back into the ropes, but once again, Miranda took control of the round. Miranda won by unanimous decision, the scores being 80-73, 79-73, 79-73.
 

Light Heavyweight Zsolt Erdei of Hungary had little trouble defeating his opponent Byron Mitchell of Dothan, Alabama. Erdei defeated Mitchell with his speed. Erdei was throwing two to three combinations in the same time that Mitchell would throw one to two punches. Erdei would come in and land these combinations then quickly move out. He dominated from the beginning of the fight until the fight was stopped in the sixth.

In the first fight of the night, Light Heavyweight Badou Jack won by TKO over Harjo Sujak. Although Sujak looked good in the first round, Jack dominated the next four rounds until it was stopped in the fifth.

Junior Welterweight Ivan Redkach also won by TKO over Alberto Amaro. Although this fight was more of a back and forth fight, Redkach was able to stun Amaro early in the sixth round. Redkach dominated the round; Amaro barely threw anything. The fight was stopped half way in the sixth round.

Light Heavyweight J’Leon Love won by unanimous decision over Lamar Harris. Harris put up a good fight, but Love simply out boxed him. All three judges saw it the same, 40-35 for Love.