Official Attendance: 2,286
Carl Froch, WBC Super Middleweight Champion/Super Six Finalist:
“Everyone is finally starting to acknowledge what I’ve done in successive fights.”
“I wasn’t 100% happy with my performance, because I’m the kind of guy who likes to unload my shots. I didn’t do that enough tonight, but I did enough to win.”
“Johnson is a big, strong light heavyweight and he can hang in with everyone. He is a proud, strong man. He was fading towards the end because I was hitting him.”
“It was a professional performance tonight, which I’m proud of. I did enough to win without taking too many risks.”
“I’m going to stay on the ball. I will have a little bit of a rest, and I’ll go back and see my baby boy Rocco. But, I will stay straight and stay fit.”
“You always learn in every fight. Tonight I solidified that I can box on my last foot and give Ward problems doing that.”
Eddie Hearn, Froch’s Promoter:
“Carl deserves the utmost respect from everyone in the world. He is a real fighter. We don’t have enough people like Carl Froch in boxing.”
“We’re going to build his fight with Andre Ward for what it is: a unification fight between the two best super middleweights in the world.”
“I don’t think there has been anyone who has fought, successively, so many top opponents. Carl is just a fighter.”
Glen Johnson:
“My team has done a wonderful job with my career every since I teamed up with them. We have come up on the short end of the stick sometimes, and they have never given up on me.”
“For me, I will just go home and put more effort into it and see what I can bring next time.”
“It was a close fight. There was a lot of give and take. He hit me with some solid, clean shots.”
“Carl can fight. He is tough. We look forward to seeing a great fight between the two men who have made it to the finals.”
Lou DiBella, Johnson’s Co-Promoter:
“If you don’t love Glen Johnson then you don’t love boxing. It is an honor and privilege to be his promoter and to be his friend. You never get less than 100% from Glen Johnson.”
“Everyone on this team respects the heck out of Carl Froch. If Andre Ward thinks he will have an easy night, he is very wrong.”
“It was a very close fight going into the seventh or eighth round. Glen tried to take him out with one punch and Carl adjusted.”
Leon Margules, Johnson’s Co-Promoter:
“People who came here tonight saw a spectacular fight between two great warriors and champions. Anyone who saw the fight and knows boxing can appreciate the kind of battle Glen and Carl had.”
“For a 42 year old athlete to fight twelve hard rounds like that is a spectacular feat.”
“I’m not disappointed in Glen’s performance; I’m only disappointed in the result.”
Zsolt “Firebird” Erdei scores impressive sixth round stoppage of former world champion Byron Mitchell
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (June 4, 2011) – Unbeaten former two time world champion Zsolt “Firebird” Erdei scored a sixth round technical knockout over former world champion Byron Mitchell on Saturday night in front of throngs of Hungarian supporters who chanted and cheered their man to victory.
Erdei vs. Mitchell served as the chief undercard bout to the Super Six semifinal clash between WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch and Glen Johnson from the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Erdei (33-0, 18 KOs) came out aggressively from the opening bell, never letting Mitchell (28-8-1, 21 KOs) put together any punches of his own. It was in stark contrast to Erdei’s last outing, also at Boardwalk Hall, where Erdei put on a dominant boxing clinic against veteran Sampson Onyango.
In the sixth round, Erdei’s activity put Mitchell on the canvas twice, the second time prompting referee Eddie Cotton to call a halt to the action at 1:58 of the round.
Erdei credited the rejuvenated performance him being comfortable fighting for the second straight time in America.
“The first fight, I was a little homesick,” said the Hungarian native, who spent most of his pro career fighting in Europe. “This time I had more preparation and more time to get used to being here. It showed in the ring.”
Looking ahead, Erdei, who held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2004-2009 before giving it up for a brief stint at cruiserweight, many possibilities in the talent-rich 175 lbs. division. A chance run-in just hour before his fight had his mind on one man in particular.
“I met Bernard Hopkins at the bakery in Caesars just before the fight,” said Erdei. “He was a real gentleman and we have a great mutual respect for each other. It would be an honor to fight him.”