Carl Martin Froch (born 2 July 1977 in Nottingham), nicknamed 'The Cobra', is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014. Per Wikipedia, he held multiple world championships at super-middleweight, including the WBC title twice between 2008 and 2011, the IBF title from 2012 to 2015, and the WBA title (Unified and Regular versions) between 2013 and 2015.
Froch fought in the Super Six World Boxing Classic, beat Lucian Bute for the IBF title in 2012, avenged his loss to Mikkel Kessler in 2013, and closed his career with two wins over George Groves — the second an eighth-round knockout at Wembley Stadium on May 31, 2014 that was The Ring's Knockout of the Year. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2023.
BoxRec-style profile
- Birth name: Carl Martin Froch
- Born: July 2, 1977 — Nottingham, England
- Nationality: British
- Height: 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
- Reach: 75 in (191 cm)
- Stance: Orthodox
- Pro debut: 16 Mar 2002 (Win by TKO vs Michael Pinnock)
- Last bout: 31 May 2014 (Win by KO vs George Groves)
- Total rounds boxed: 248 (summed from the bout table below)
- Divisions: Super-middleweight
- KO percentage: 72.7% (24 KO wins in 33 wins)
- Titles held (major, with reign dates): WBC super-middleweight title twice between 2008 and 2011 (won vacant title December 6, 2008 from Jean Pascal; lost to Mikkel Kessler April 24, 2010 in the Super Six; regained the vacant title November 27, 2010 from Arthur Abraham; lost the Super Six final to Andre Ward December 17, 2011); IBF super-middleweight title May 26, 2012 – 2015 (won from Lucian Bute); WBA super-middleweight title (Regular, later Unified) May 25, 2013 – 2015 (won from Mikkel Kessler in their rematch); at regional level he held the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles between 2004 and 2008 — reign summary per Wikipedia lead and bout table
- Trainer: Robert McCracken (trained by McCracken throughout his professional career, per the fetched article)
- Promoter: Mick Hennessy until 2011, then Eddie Hearn / Matchroom Boxing (per the fetched article)
- Born: July 2, 1977 — Nottingham, England
- Nationality: British
- Height: 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
- Reach: 75 in (191 cm)
- Stance: Orthodox
- Divisions: Super-middleweight
Record at a glance
- Total bouts: 35
- Wins: 33
- Wins by KO: 24
- Losses: 2
- Losses by KO: 0
- Draws: 0
- No contests: 0
- Born: July 2, 1977 — Nottingham, England
- Nationality: British
- Height: 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
- Reach: 75 in (191 cm)
- Stance: Orthodox
- Divisions: Super-middleweight
Fight-by-fight record
| No. | Date | Opponent | Result | Method | Round/Time | Venue / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 Mar 2002 | Michael Pinnock | Win | TKO | 4 (6), 2:03 | York Hall, London, England |
| 2 | 10 May 2002 | Ojay Abrahams | Win | KO | 1 (6), 2:18 | York Hall, London, England |
| 3 | 23 Aug 2002 | Darren Covell | Win | TKO | 1 (6), 2:03 | York Hall, London, England |
| 4 | 25 Oct 2002 | Paul Bonson | Win | PTS | 6 | York Hall, London, England |
| 5 | 21 Dec 2002 | Mike Duffield | Win | TKO | 1 (6), 1:14 | Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England |
| 6 | 28 Jan 2003 | Valery Odin | Win | TKO | 6 (8), 2:15 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England |
| 7 | 5 Mar 2003 | Varuzhan Davtyan | Win | TKO | 5 (8), 1:44 | York Hall, London, England |
| 8 | 16 Apr 2003 | Michael Monaghan | Win | TKO | 3 (8), 2:18 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England |
| 9 | 4 Oct 2003 | Vage Kocharyan | Win | PTS | 8 | Alexandra Palace, London, England |
| 10 | 28 Nov 2003 | Alan Page | Win | TKO | 7 (10), 1:40 | Storm Arena, Derby, England — ★ Title fight — Won vacant English super-middleweight title |
| 11 | 30 Jan 2004 | Dmitry Adamovich | Win | TKO | 2 (8), 1:07 | Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England |
| 12 | 12 Mar 2004 | Charles Adamu | Win | PTS | 12 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Won Commonwealth super-middleweight title |
| 13 | 2 Jun 2004 | Mark Woolnaugh | Win | TKO | 11 (12), 1:47 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Retained Commonwealth super-middleweight title |
| 14 | 24 Sep 2004 | Damon Hague | Win | TKO | 1 (12), 2:10 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Retained Commonwealth super-middleweight title; Won vacant British super-middleweight title |
| 15 | 21 Apr 2005 | Henry Porras | Win | TKO | 8 (10), 0:56 | The Avalon, Los Angeles, California, US |
| 16 | 9 Jul 2005 | Matthew Barney | Win | PTS | 12 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Retained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles |
| 17 | 2 Dec 2005 | Ruben Groenewald | Win | TKO | 5 (12), 2:25 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Retained Commonwealth super-middleweight title |
| 18 | 17 Feb 2006 | Dale Westerman | Win | TKO | 9 (12), 1:45 | York Hall, London, England — ★ Title fight — Retained Commonwealth super-middleweight title |
| 19 | 26 May 2006 | Brian Magee | Win | KO | 11 (12), 1:21 | York Hall, London, England — ★ Title fight — Retained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles |
| 20 | 24 Nov 2006 | Tony Dodson | Win | KO | 3 (12), 2:55 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Retained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles |
| 21 | 23 Mar 2007 | Sergey Tatevosyan | Win | TKO | 2 (12), 2:54 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England |
| 22 | 9 Nov 2007 | Robin Reid | Win | RTD | 5 (12), 3:00 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Retained British super-middleweight title |
| 23 | 10 May 2008 | Albert Rybacki | Win | TKO | 4 (12), 2:35 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England |
| 24 | 6 Dec 2008 | Jean Pascal | Win | UD | 12 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Won vacant WBC super-middleweight title |
| 25 | 25 Apr 2009 | Jermain Taylor | Win | TKO | 12 (12), 2:46 | Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, US — ★ Title fight — Retained WBC super-middleweight title |
| 26 | 17 Oct 2009 | Andre Dirrell | Win | SD | 12 | Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Retained WBC super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 1 |
| 27 | 24 Apr 2010 | Mikkel Kessler | Loss | UD | 12 | MCH Arena, Herning, Denmark — ★ Title fight — Lost WBC super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 2 |
| 28 | 27 Nov 2010 | Arthur Abraham | Win | UD | 12 | Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland — ★ Title fight — Won vacant WBC super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 3 |
| 29 | 4 Jun 2011 | Glen Johnson | Win | MD | 12 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US — ★ Title fight — Retained WBC super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: semi-final |
| 30 | 17 Dec 2011 | Andre Ward | Loss | UD | 12 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US — ★ Title fight — Lost WBC super-middleweight title; For WBA (Super) and vacant The Ring super middleweight titles; Super Six World Boxing Classic: final |
| 31 | 26 May 2012 | Lucian Bute | Win | TKO | 5 (12), 1:05 | Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Won IBF super-middleweight title |
| 32 | 17 Nov 2012 | Yusaf Mack | Win | KO | 3 (12), 2:30 | Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, England — ★ Title fight — Retained IBF super-middleweight title |
| 33 | 25 May 2013 | Mikkel Kessler | Win | UD | 12 | The O2 Arena, London, England — ★ Title fight — Retained IBF super-middleweight title; Won WBA (Unified) super-middleweight title |
| 34 | 23 Nov 2013 | George Groves | Win | TKO | 9 (12), 1:33 | Phones4u Arena, Manchester, England — ★ Title fight — Retained WBA (Unified) and IBF super-middleweight titles |
| 35 | 31 May 2014 | George Groves | Win | KO | 8 (12), 2:28 | Wembley Stadium, London, England — ★ Title fight — Retained WBA (Unified) and IBF super-middleweight titles |
Titles & notes
Major title reigns (start–end): WBC super-middleweight title twice between 2008 and 2011 (won vacant title December 6, 2008 from Jean Pascal; lost to Mikkel Kessler April 24, 2010 in the Super Six; regained the vacant title November 27, 2010 from Arthur Abraham; lost the Super Six final to Andre Ward December 17, 2011); IBF super-middleweight title May 26, 2012 – 2015 (won from Lucian Bute); WBA super-middleweight title (Regular, later Unified) May 25, 2013 – 2015 (won from Mikkel Kessler in their rematch); at regional level he held the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles between 2004 and 2008 — reign summary per Wikipedia lead and bout table
- 28 Nov 2003 vs Alan Page: Won vacant English super-middleweight title
- 12 Mar 2004 vs Charles Adamu: Won Commonwealth super-middleweight title
- 2 Jun 2004 vs Mark Woolnaugh: Retained Commonwealth super-middleweight title
- 24 Sep 2004 vs Damon Hague: Retained Commonwealth super-middleweight title; Won vacant British super-middleweight title
- 9 Jul 2005 vs Matthew Barney: Retained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles
- 2 Dec 2005 vs Ruben Groenewald: Retained Commonwealth super-middleweight title
- 17 Feb 2006 vs Dale Westerman: Retained Commonwealth super-middleweight title
- 26 May 2006 vs Brian Magee: Retained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles
- 24 Nov 2006 vs Tony Dodson: Retained British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles
- 9 Nov 2007 vs Robin Reid: Retained British super-middleweight title
- 6 Dec 2008 vs Jean Pascal: Won vacant WBC super-middleweight title
- 25 Apr 2009 vs Jermain Taylor: Retained WBC super-middleweight title
- 17 Oct 2009 vs Andre Dirrell: Retained WBC super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 1
- 24 Apr 2010 vs Mikkel Kessler: Lost WBC super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 2
- 27 Nov 2010 vs Arthur Abraham: Won vacant WBC super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 3
- 4 Jun 2011 vs Glen Johnson: Retained WBC super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: semi-final
- 17 Dec 2011 vs Andre Ward: Lost WBC super-middleweight title; For WBA (Super) and vacant The Ring super middleweight titles; Super Six World Boxing Classic: final
- 26 May 2012 vs Lucian Bute: Won IBF super-middleweight title
- 17 Nov 2012 vs Yusaf Mack: Retained IBF super-middleweight title
- 25 May 2013 vs Mikkel Kessler: Retained IBF super-middleweight title; Won WBA (Unified) super-middleweight title
- 23 Nov 2013 vs George Groves: Retained WBA (Unified) and IBF super-middleweight titles
- 31 May 2014 vs George Groves: Retained WBA (Unified) and IBF super-middleweight titles
Photo: Pasi via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Featured image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Carl_Froch_2010.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original
Record source: Wikipedia professional boxing record table (cross-checked against the bout list), retrieved 2026-10-29.
