Froch overwhelms Johnson, will face Ward

After two years and the loss of three of the original "Super Six" along the way, Showtime's super-middleweight tournament finally is poised for a climactic championship in the fall.

Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) demonstrated the grit and toughness such a long tournament demanded by winning a majority decision over 42-year-old warhorse Glen Johnson (51-15-2, 35 KOs) to retain his WBC 168-pound title Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall and set up the tournament final against WBA champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KOs). Ward was ringside Saturday night as a commentator on the Showtime telecast.

Froch won Ward's respect by weathering Johnson's biggest punches in the second half of the fight. "Froch took some heavy shots, and he responded," Ward said. "That's what champions do. It's going to be a tough fight. My style is different. I'm physical, too, but I can do a little bit more."

Japanese judge Nobuaki Urutani scored the bout a draw at 114-114, but Froch was favored by American John Stewart (117-111) and British judge Mark Green (116-112). Newsday gave Froch a 118-110 margin.

It's going to take a huge effort and a lot of guts for Ward to dent Froch's hard veneer of confidence. Speaking of Ward, Froch said, "We're going to win. Me and my trainer have the formula. WBC and WBA champs is what it's all about."

As for his battle with Johnson, Froch acknowledged feeling the pain from the former light-heavyweigtht champ's hardest blows. "He was very tough, very strong, like an oak tree," Froch said of Johnson. "I started slow, but toward the end, I was throwing more punches. I won the fight easily. I don't know what [Urutani] was watching."

Johnson opened the fight in characteristic fashion coming straight ahead and stalking Froch. But even though the Englishman spent the first four rounds backpedaling, his counter jabs found their mark, while most of Johnson's punches were short.

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By the fourth round, Froch was loose enough to settle down and fashion hard combinations that started to the body and moved up. He rocked Johnson near the end of the fifth round with a lead right that was followed by three more chopping rights, and in the sixth, Froch opened up with flurries, closing by sticking several hard right hands.

The momentum shifted in the seventh when Johnson finally got home with a right hand that brought a roar from the crowd and then finished with another overhand right. Engaged in the battle now, Johnson opened the eighth with a huge right hand that stunned Froch and followed with several power shots.

Johnson said he got out of his game plan by slugging, but that was when he was most effective. "He was able to take my best shots, and that surprised me," Johnson said. "He was able to counter with his longer arms."

Froch showed his grit in the ninth after Johnson again opened with a powerful left-right combo, fighting back with repeated flurries. Another big Johnson right hand roused the crowd a minute into the 10th, but again, Froch made it his business to respond with far more in retaliation.

With his back against a corner post in the 11th, Froch nailed Johnson coming in with a right hand that hurt the challenger and followed up with more power combinations. Flashing his bravado, Froch mugged in the 12th round but then caught Johnson with two or three uppercuts and finished pounding out a bruising decision.

"The thing that threw me off is that he was able to come right back with combinations," Johnson said. "He certainly has one of the better chins I've seen. I knew he was hurt, but he wasn't hurt enough."