Carl Froch: Andre Ward’s style was borderline cheating, beat Sergey Kovalev with low blows

Carl Froch and Andre Ward might both be retired fighters at this point, but that doesn’t mean either of them are willing to give up their longstanding feud. Ward holds a 2011 win over Froch during the Super Six tournament, and the two have verbally jousted and flirted with the possibility of fighting again ever since.

Of course the two would never meet inside a ring again, but that hasn’t stopped them from taunting one another. So while Ward made his way to the UK on a recent assignment, he says he was disappointed to find out that Froch was out of the country on vacation.

Froch would catch wind of Ward’s comments and respond by saying that it’s not really his intent to troll Ward, but that he’s just honest about his opinion and he believes Ward has a history of questionable tactics between the ropes.

“I’m just honest about what I see and I think his style is borderline cheating. Listen, he beat me fair and square, let’s get that straight, but it was one of the worst fights I’ve been involved in since Matthew Barney, who nobody will know. That’s when somebody smothers you, puts their head on your chest, and basically holds you at any given moment they can, and ducks low.

“You have to admire him for going through his career unbeaten, but he’s not an entertainer, and in an entertaining sport, it’s good to entertain. Andre Ward’s style is effective, but it’s boring. You’ll never rewatch a Ward fight. He fought the most feared man in boxing, Sergey Kovalev twice. Let’s be honest, he beat him with low blows in the end.”

Froch continued by saying that the truth hurts and that if Ward has a problem with it then he welcomes him to do something about it. Froch would finish by saying that Ward only showed up to the UK in the first place because he knew he out of town. But even still, Froch thanks Ward for turning him into the animal he became after that fight — going on to sell 80,000 tickets at Wembley Stadium — while saying Ward couldn’t sell out a phone booth.