Andre Ward And Carl Froch Bury The Hatchet, And There’s Pure Class Shown On Both Sides

If you haven’t yet seen it, check out the latest episode of Carl Froch’s ‘Froch On Fighting’ podcast. In the latest instalment of the podcast from “The Cobra,” former bitter and long-time rival and conqueror Andre Ward guest stars, and the two greats bury the hatchet before the cameras, quite sincerely. And how much pure class both natural born competitors show.

Ward of course won a wide (on one card, much closer on the other two cards) decision over Froch back in December of 2011, this in the final of the ‘Super Six’ 168-pound tournament. Froch, for years, moaned and groaned about the decision, about Ward even more so, with the British warrior calling Ward a boring, even dirty fighter, and the two seemed set for many, many years of mutual dislike.

But in the new podcast, both legends put all the bad stuff in the rear-view mirror, the two shaking hands and informing us how they have gotten older and wiser. Froch in particular shows humility as well as respect. Froch also points out how “iron sharpens iron,” and that the loss to Ward motivated him to come back stronger, which he did in smashing Lucian Bute, a heavy favourite, in his very next fight.

Ward as we all know retired perfect, unbeaten, this in 2017, after his two light-heavyweight wins over Sergey Kovalev.

Today, hopefully for good, Ward and Froch are friends.

“It’s time for me to chuck a quick apology in. I’ve got to be true to myself,” Froch began. “As I’ve got older – I’m 48, what are you, 41 – I’ve got a bit wiser, and my best friend put a bible in my hand a couple of years ago…….. I’ve just started to become a little more mature. But yeah, mate, you beat me fair and square. It wasn’t close, [but] two of the judges had it 115-113 – were they drunk! That made it worse for me, because I thought, had I won one more round I’d have got a draw (laughs). So, I’m man enough to admit, I got beat fair and square by the better man. So, apologies (the two greats shake hands).”

“I appreciate that, man. I knew it was gonna be tough [when we fought],” Ward said back. “I felt that push always. I never felt like, ‘Okay, I’ve got this [win] in the bag.’ I’d say [you were] top two or three best conditioned I ever fought. You’re the type of fighter, man, when if you sign to fight you, you better make sure you’re in tip-top shape. That’s another thing I respect about you, I studied how detailed you were with your work-outs (Froch would document every single workout throughout his career, from each punch to each sit-up). I’ll say this too, not too many guys I fight are the same after I fight them. He’s (looking at the camera and pointing to Froch) one of the only guys who took a loss like that and then bounced back. So respect for that too.”

The two former champs chat like buddies over the course of the podcast, and Ward at one stage admits that Froch really hurt him with a body shot during their 2011 clash.

It’s a great podcast, one that showcases the class, sportsmanship and integrity all fighters carry, or at least should carry.

Carl Froch and Andre Ward: Once seemingly sworn enemies, now brothers in arms.