Carl Froch became WBC super-middleweight champion with a unanimous points success over Jean Pascal on Saturday night.
Nottingham super-middleweight eans hard-fought points win
Carl Froch became WBC super-middleweight champion with a unanimous points success over Jean Pascal on Saturday night.
Froch came through a brutal, action-packed encounter to earn the decision by margins of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 in front of his home-town crowd in Nottingham.
The 31-year-old did it the hard way, engaging his powerful Haiti-born Canadian opponent in a tear up for the majority of the opening eight rounds and, at times, both men looked on the brink of going down.
Froch's style of dancing around with his guard low looked fraught with danger, particularly during the opening half of the contest.
Both fighters attempted to unload huge punches from the first bell, each man also showing a granite-like chin to take some big shots.
High tempo
The high tempo began to take its toll on Pascal in the final four rounds, with Froch seizing control behind his probing jab, despite a cut around his left eye.
And Froch dominated the closing stages to ensure the judges could not overlook his claims.
"I didn't box and move and jab very often like I should do," admitted Froch.
"But I'm a fighter first and foremost. I could make my career a lot easier but that's not what I'm about. I like to get stuck in.
"He rocked me to my boots a couple of times but I stayed with it and that's what you have to do to get this green belt around your waist.
"I got a little over-eager. He was game and he came to win."
Cracked rib
Froch paid for his attacking style with stitches to his left eye and both fists and also revealed he had suffered a perforated eardrum and a cracked rib in the fight build-up.
"I got a small crack in my rib and had to go for an X-ray last week," he said.
"I could have pulled out but I'm 31 years old and the older you get the more opportunities you miss."
