Carl Froch is in rarefied company, becoming only the eighth fighter from these islands to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
He joins in order of induction, Jack Kid Berg, Randolf Turpin, Ken Buchanan, yours truly, Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe and Naseem Hamed. The accolade recognises fighters who made a real impression, who captured the imagination of the wider public beyond the boxing priesthood.
I covered a lot of Froch’s early fights from the commentary box. The first one that made me sit up and take notice was his stoppage victory against Brian Magee to retain the British and Commonwealth super middleweight titles at the York Hall on a stifling May night in 2006.
Other stoppage victories followed against Tony Dodson and former WBC champion Robin Reid before he stepped up to challenge Jean Pascal for the WBC super-middleweight crown in Nottingham in December 2008. Pascal had a distinguished track record at light-heavyweight, fighting the likes of Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins, Lucien Butte and Sergey Kovalev.
He was a big scalp and set up Froch for a first defence in what would become his most memorable performance against Jermain Taylor the following April. On his debut in the United States, Froch demonstrated his battling qualities, landing a knockout blow in the final round of a match he was losing.
There were further notable wins against Andre Dirrell, Arthur Abraham, Glenn Johnson and Butte. His only defeats were to Mikkel Kessler on points in a barn burner, which he avenged, and Andre Ward. No-one got close to Ward, a uniquely brilliant boxer.
Froch finished his career with two amazing fights against George Groves. He was down in the opening round of the first fight but came back to finish it in the ninth, showing all the character and resolve that did for Taylor.
In the rematch he dominated Groves, who never quite got over the nature of the first defeat when ahead on all cards before the stoppage.
Froch broke hearts with his strength and perseverance. Groves was such a big puncher and hurt him. But Froch sucked it up and got through it.
He was poor in sparring. There were many anecdotal accounts from boxers who claimed they had the better of him in the gym.
But boy could Froch fight when it mattered. He had raw-bone strength, a granite chin and amazing stamina, the kind of bloke you would want at your side in the trenches. His success obviously struck a chord at the hall of fame. Congratulations to him and welcome to the club.
Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigans_Gym
