Atlantic City, Saturday June 4th

Super Middleweight WBC Title: Carl Froch MD12 Glen Johnson

The pattern for this fight was set in the second round, but the beginnings could be viewed in the first. Froch fights with a low left hand and Johnson looks to detonate the big right, so it was no great mystery as to what he'd be catching Froch with.

After a cagey first Johnson went on the offensive and moved forward all round, something he'd continue to do for the rest of the fight. Froch skipped around the ring and fought mainly on the counter. Whilst the attacking intent came from the American, he was regularly caught by quality punches. The first big right was landed in the third, but Froch took it and returned fire.

This was one of the more frustrating aspects of the fight. Froch was clearly landing better punches but too often he was doing it on the run, and in response to being caught. Froch was unable or unwilling to impose himself out on the fight and take centre-ring, and seemed to produce his best work in response to being caught, rather than in exchanges he initiated. He also had an irritating habit of walking away from Johnson whilst looking over his shoulder.

As the fight wore Johnson became tired and his work rate dropped, meaning towards the end of the fight Froch was able to stop moving and dominate periods. There were still some ferocious exchanges, but by the end Froch was always coming out on top of them. The only concern was whether or not Johnson's constant forward movement would swing the close rounds in his favour over the quality punches of Froch, but despite one judge scoring it level it turned out to be a fairly comfortable win.

Super Middleweight: Rayco Saunders UD8 Edison Miranda

This was a fight that promised early on to be one-sided, and that largely proved to be the case. Miranda was making a comeback at a heavier weight, and brought something of a showman nature in. Fighting with a low left and a permamantly cocked right he spent the first couple of rounds circling Saunders who was holding centre-ring with a high, tight defence but not a lot of aggresive intent.

The fight broke into life in the third when Miranda found a way through with a couple of straight rights which hurt Saunders. Miranda spent most of the round chasing Saunders round the ring, landing more blows, but unable to put him away. The left hand was a useful jab but tended to be used mainly to set up the big right. Saunders still hadn't recovered in the fourth and spent most of the round on the run again.

The rest of the fight slightly petered out as Saunders recovered enough to regain the centre of the ring and the early pattern re-established itself. Miranda out-worked and out-punched Saunders, and never looked in trouble, even when he was caught at the end of the seventh. All in all a decent work out against an ageing journeyman.