Carl Froch


Carl Martin Froch, is an English former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator for Sky Sports. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the WBC title twice between 2008 and 2011, the IBF title from 2012 to 2015, and the WBA title from 2013 to 2015. At regional level he held the British, Commonwealth, and English super-middleweight titles, and won the Lonsdale Belt in 2006. As an amateur in the middleweight division, Froch won a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships, and the ABA title twice.
Froch was voted Fighter of the Year for 2012 by World Boxing News and BoxRec. In 2013, the UK edition of GQ magazine voted him Sportsman of the Year. He reached a peak pound for pound ranking of sixth by BoxRec and The Ring magazine, and in 2013 was listed by the BBC as the best active British boxer, pound for pound.

Early and personal life

Carl Martin Froch was born in Colwick, Nottingham, in 1977, the son of Carol and Frank Froch. His paternal grandparents were Polish, while Carl's mother's family is English. Froch is a fan of Johnny Cash. His wife Rachael Froch with whom he married in May 2019, is a British glamour model, with whom he has a son, Rocco, and a daughter, Natalia. On 11 September 2015, the couple welcomed a second daughter, Penelope.
Early in his life Froch wanted to become a footballer and play for Nottingham Forest, his local football team, and has stated that he would love to fight at the City Ground. He is a supporter of the club and occasionally trained at its training ground before fights. He has also appeared on the Sky Sports Saturday morning football show Soccer AM the week before a fight.
Carl Froch believes that the earth is flat.

Amateur career

Froch began boxing at the Phoenix ABC in Gedling, Nottingham. As an amateur, he won two ABA middleweight titles in 1999 and 2001 and a bronze medal at the 2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships before turning pro and having his first pro fight in March 2002. As an amateur, Froch lost to American Peter Manfredo Jr.

Professional career

Coach and promoter

Froch was trained by Robert McCracken throughout his professional career. He was managed and promoted by Mick Hennessy until 2011, and from thereon by Eddie Hearn.

Early career

Froch made his debut at the age of 25 in March 2002. He fought at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London against veteran 36 year old journeyman Michael Pinnock, who weighed 10 pounds more than Froch, in a scheduled six-round bout. Froch won the fight via a fourth-round technical knockout. Froch fought a further four times that year, winning them all with three coming by first-round knockout against Ojay Abrahams, Darren Covill and Mike Duffield and one victory coming by a points decision win against Paul Bonson.
Froch started 2003 with a knockout win against Valery Odin, fighting for the first time at the Nottingham Arena, the same arena he would win his first world title five years later. Froch would next fight in March, April and October of that year defeating Varujan Davtyan and Michael Monaghan by knockout and Vage Kocharyan via points decision, respectively. At this point in his career, Froch racked up nine wins in as many fights, with seven coming by way of knockout.

Domestic success

In November 2003, Froch fought fellow unbeaten British contender Alan Page at the Derby Storm Arena in Derby for the vacant English super-middleweight title. In round seven, Froch landed a hard right followed by an uppercut, although Page didn't go down, referee John Keane stepped in to call an end to the fight. In 2004, Froch won the Commonwealth and vacant British super-middleweight titles by defeating Charles Adamu and Damon Hague respectively. He has defended both against Matthew Barney, Brian Magee and Tony Dodson and the Commonwealth belt alone against Ruben Groenewald and Dale Westerman.
Following a victory over the Russian Sergey Tatevosyan, on 9 November 2007 at Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, he stopped the veteran former world champion Robin Reid, after which Reid retired from the sport for four years.

WBC super-middleweight champion

Froch vs. Pascal

On 6 December 2008, Froch fought Canadian Jean Pascal for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title and won after a hard-fought twelve-round brawl. Both combatants showed enormous grit and determination, landing and taking huge shots from one another without even flinching. After the fight, it was revealed that Froch had sustained a perforated eardrum and a cracked rib in his final sparring session before the fight. Froch's promoter Mick Hennessy gave Froch the opportunity to withdraw from the fight, but Froch refused.
Since the fight, Froch and Pascal have become friends on a personal level and have made a promise to face each other again in the future, though this seems unlikely given Froch's retirement.

Froch vs. Taylor

On 25 April 2009, Froch fought Jermain Taylor in his first defence of his WBC super-middleweight title, at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Froch survived a third-round knockdown – the first of his entire career, amateur and professional – and, behind on two of the three judges' scorecards coming into the final round, he managed to stop his opponent with 14 seconds remaining in the twelfth round to retain his WBC super-middleweight title.
After the fight, Froch was quick to send out a verbal challenge to unbeaten Welsh boxer Joe Calzaghe and was also quoted as saying "Kessler, Pavlik, Hopkins, I want them all to feel the force."

Super Six World Boxing Classic

On 13 July 2009, Froch agreed to take part in the Super Six World Boxing Classic super-middleweight tournament devised by Showtime, with the winner of the tournament winning the WBA, and WBC super-middleweight titles. The tournament featured six boxers including Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Jermain Taylor, Andre Ward and Froch. Froch's first opponent in the Super Six was Andre Dirrell.

Froch vs. Dirrell

The bout took place in Nottingham on 17 October and Froch's WBC title was on the line. Froch won the fight and retained his title with a split decision victory over the previously undefeated Dirrell. Two of the judges scored the bout 115–112 in favour of Froch, with the other scoring the bout 114–113 in favour of Dirrell.

Froch vs. Kessler

Froch's next fight was against Mikkel Kessler, who lost the WBA super-middleweight title to Andre Ward. Froch's WBC title was again on the line. In a closely fought contest in Kessler's home country of Denmark where both men had great moments throughout the fight, Kessler took Froch's title and inflicted Froch's first professional defeat via unanimous decision, the judges scoring the contest by margins of 116–112, 115–113, and 117–111. The scoring was somewhat controversial, as some boxing announcers had scored the fight much closer, with some awarding Froch the win and others scoring it a draw. Froch later stated that the fight was close and that he believes the decision would have gone his way if the event had been held in Nottingham. The fight was a contender for the 2010 Fight of the Year.

Froch vs. Abraham

Froch faced former IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham in the third stage in Helsinki, Finland at the Hartwall Finland. Froch feared that if he fought in Abraham's adoptive home country there was a possibility of receiving a bad decision. However, since an eye injury forced Mikkel Kessler to relinquish his WBC title and resign from the tournament, Froch-Abraham was for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title. Both Froch and Abraham came off of a loss in stage two of the Super Six. Abraham lost after a disqualification against former Froch victim Andre Dirrell.
Froch regained the WBC super-middleweight title by gaining a unanimous decision victory over Abraham, with the judges' scorecards reading the 120–108 twice, and 119–109, reflecting the one-sided nature of the bout.

Froch vs. Johnson

Following his victory over Abraham, Froch entered the semi-final stage of the tournament. His opponent on 4 June 2011 in Atlantic City, New Jersey was Glen Johnson. Froch retained his title with a majority decision victory, with the judges' scorecards reading 117–111, 116–112, and 114–114.

Froch vs. Ward

Carl Froch lost in the final of the Super Six tournament in a bout against undefeated WBA super-middleweight champion Andre Ward. The vacant Ring magazine super-middleweight title was on the line in the fight, as well as Froch's and Ward's super-middleweight titles. In the first seven rounds, Ward outboxed Froch, successfully using his jab to neutralise Froch and beating him to the punch from a distance and at close range. In the later rounds, Ward seemed to take his foot off the gas, leaving Froch to win a couple of rounds near the end of the fight, though they were close and competitive rounds. The judges' scorecards were 115–113, 115–113, and 118–110, all in favour of Ward. Ward won the vacant Ring magazine super-middleweight title and is also regarded as becoming lineal champion with the win, despite some independent sources rating undefeated IBF title holder Lucian Bute #1 or 2. The fight peaked at 580,000 viewers on Showtime.

IBF super middleweight champion

Froch vs. Bute

The IBF officially enforced Carl Froch as Lucian Bute's number one mandatory challenger. The fight, billed as "No Easy Way Out", took place on 26 May 2012 in Froch's hometown of Nottingham. Despite being the underdog with bookmakers, critics and fans around the world, Froch dominated Bute throughout the fight to become the new IBF super-middleweight champion via TKO in round five, making Froch a three-time world champion.
After the Bute fight and acquiring the IBF title, Froch defeated Yusaf Mack via knockout. The British website BoxRec named Froch the "Fighter of the Year" in the end of 2012.

Unified super middleweight champion

Froch vs. Kessler II

On 26 May 2013, Froch faced WBA champion Kessler in a rematch of their fight in 2010. This time it was Froch that was victorious via unanimous decision at The O2 Arena in London, with the judges scoring the bout 118–110, 116–112, and 115–113.

Froch vs. Groves

The IBF installed George Groves as Froch's mandatory challenger, their bout taking place on 23 November at the Phones4u Arena in Manchester, with Froch's WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles on the line. Despite being floored for only the second time in his career by a left hook right hand from Groves in the first round, Froch retained his titles with a TKO victory in round nine. There was significant controversy as many observers felt that referee Howard Foster stepped in to end the contest prematurely. The three scoring judges had scored Groves ahead of Froch before Groves was shaken by some powerful Froch blows in the ninth. The controversial ending prompted a widespread demand for a rematch to be fought between the two.
On 24 January 2014, the IBF ordered a rematch between Froch and Groves, giving Froch 90 days to fight Groves or relinquish his IBF title.

Froch vs. Groves II

On 13 February 2014, it was announced by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing that Froch v Groves II would take place on 31 May 2014 at Wembley Stadium in London. Froch was quoted that the fight was what the "British public want to see" and that was his reason for taking the option to give Groves a rematch while defending his WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles. As soon as tickets went on sale, 60,000 tickets were sold in under an hour and a further 20,000 tickets were made available, making this the biggest ever attendance for a boxing match in Britain since the Second World War.
The fight was a more cagey affair than the first match, with both fighters initially looking to outbox each other. Froch was stronger in the earlier rounds, with Jim Watt unofficially scoring the earlier rounds in favour of the champion on his Sky Sports scorecard. By the end of the seventh round, both Richie Woodhall and Steve Bunce had the fight scored four rounds to three for Froch on the BBC scorecards. Groves came out fighting in the eighth round before Froch got him pinned against the ropes and delivered a right hand blow which knocked Groves out. It was later named Knockout of the Year by The Ring for 2014.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
35Win33–2 George GrovesKO8, 2:2831 May 2014 Wembley Stadium, London, EnglandRetained WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles
34Win32–2 George GrovesTKO9, 1:3323 Nov 2013 Phones4u Arena, Manchester, EnglandRetained WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles
33Win31–2 Mikkel KesslerUD1225 May 2013 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandRetained IBF super-middleweight title;
Won WBA super-middleweight title
32Win30–2 Yusaf MackKO3, 2:3017 Nov 2012 Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained IBF super-middleweight title
31Win29–2 Lucian ButeTKO5, 1:0527 May 2012 Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandWon IBF super-middleweight title
30Loss28–2 Andre WardUD1217 Dec 2011 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USLost WBC super-middleweight title;
For WBA, vacant The Ring and lineal super middleweight titles;
Super Six World Boxing Classic: final
29Win28–1 Glen Johnson124 Jun 2011 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USRetained WBC super-middleweight title;
Super Six World Boxing Classic: semi-final
28Win27–1 Arthur AbrahamUD1227 Nov 2010 Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, FinlandWon vacant WBC super-middleweight title;
Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 3
27Loss26–1 Mikkel KesslerUD1224 Apr 2010 MCH Arena, Herning, DenmarkLost WBC super-middleweight title;
Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 2
26Win26–0 Andre Dirrell1217 Oct 2009 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained WBC super-middleweight title;
Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 1
25Win25–0 Jermain TaylorTKO12, 2:4625 Apr 2009 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USRetained WBC super-middleweight title
24Win24–0 Jean Pascal126 Dec 2008 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandWon vacant WBC super-middleweight title
23Win23–0 Albert RybackiTKO4, 2:3510 May 2008 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England
22Win22–0 Robin Reid5, 3:009 Nov 2007 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained British super-middleweight title
21Win21–0 Sergey TatevosyanTKO2, 2:5423 Mar 2007 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England
20Win20–0 Tony DodsonKO3, 2:5524 Nov 2006 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles
19Win19–0 Brian MageeKO11, 1:2126 May 2006 York Hall, London, EnglandRetained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles
18Win18–0 Dale WestermanTKO9, 1:4517 Feb 2006 York Hall, London, EnglandRetained Commonwealth super-middleweight title
17Win17–0 Ruben GroenewaldTKO5, 2:252 Dec 2005 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained Commonwealth super-middleweight title
16Win16–0 Matthew BarneyPTS129 Jul 2005 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles
15Win15–0 Henry PorrasTKO8, 0:5621 Apr 2005 The Avalon, Los Angeles, California, US
14Win14–0 Damon HagueTKO1, 2:1024 Sep 2004 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained Commonwealth super-middleweight title;
Won vacant British super-middleweight title
13Win13–0 Mark WoolnaughTKO11, 1:472 Jun 2004 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained Commonwealth super-middleweight title
12Win12–0 Charles AdamuPTS1212 Mar 2004 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, EnglandWon Commonwealth super-middleweight title
11Win11–0 Dmitry AdamovichTKO2, 1:0730 Jan 2004 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England
10Win10–0 Alan PageTKO7, 1:4028 Nov 2003 Storm Arena, Derby, EnglandWon vacant English super-middleweight title
9Win9–0 Vage KocharyanPTS84 Oct 2003 Alexandra Palace, London, England
8Win8–0 Michael MonaghanTKO3, 2:1816 Apr 2003 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England
7Win7–0 Varuzhan DavtyanTKO5, 1:445 Mar 2003 York Hall, London, England
6Win6–0 Valery OdinTKO6, 2:1528 Jan 2003 Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England
5Win5–0 Mike DuffieldTKO1, 1:1421 Dec 2002 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England
4Win4–0 Paul Bonson625 Oct 2002 York Hall, London, England
3Win3–0 Darren CovellTKO1, 2:0323 Aug 2002 York Hall, London, England
2Win2–0 Ojay Abrahams1, 2:1810 May 2002 York Hall, London, England
1Win1–0 Michael Pinnock4, 2:0316 Mar 2002 York Hall, London, England