On this day in 2009: Froch edges Dirrell to keep WBC belt in Nottingham
The split decision handed Andre Dirrell his first professional defeat and opened Carl Froch's campaign in the Super Six World Boxing Classic.
Carl Froch retained his WBC super-middleweight title 17 years ago today, beating the previously undefeated Andre Dirrell by split decision at the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham on 17 October 2009. The win was Froch's first fight in the Super Six World Boxing Classic, the tournament that would shape the next stage of his career.
The 12-round contest went to the scorecards. Two judges scored it 115-112 for Froch, while the third had Dirrell ahead 114-113.
Froch had agreed on 13 July 2009 to enter the Super Six, a super-middleweight tournament devised by Showtime with the WBA and WBC titles going to the winner. The field also included Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Jermain Taylor and Andre Ward, and Dirrell was Froch's first opponent.
Both men's paths ran on through the tournament. Froch lost in stage two, and Dirrell beat Abraham by disqualification. That set up Froch against Abraham in stage three at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland, for the vacant WBC title after an eye injury forced Kessler to give up the belt and withdraw from the event.
Froch held the WBC title twice between 2008 and 2011, then won the IBF title in 2012 and the WBA title in 2013, holding both until 2015. He retired from the ring in 2014 and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator.
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