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I never got out of second gear - Froch

Carl Froch will take on Glen Johnson in the semi-finals of the Super Six tournament © Getty Images

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Carl Froch may have just reclaimed the WBC world super-middleweight title but the Nottingham fighter has revealed that he was "not happy with the performance", insisting he never got out of second gear.

'The Cobra' won back the title he lost to Mikkel Kessler on points in April with a hugely impressive defeat of Arthur Abraham in the Super Six tournament on Saturday night. Froch, renowned for his gung-ho, all-action style, reined in his natural instincts to out-box his hard-hitting opponent and claim a fully deserved unanimous points victory in Helsinki.

However, despite outpointing Abraham with the minimum amount of fuss, the 33-year-old - who will fight veteran Glen Johnson in the last four next year - was quick to overlook his perfectly-executed game plan and lament the fact he hadn't been in an all-out war.

"It was the most controlled performance of my career," he said in the Mirror. "Abraham has proved he is a great fighter but I totally dominated him, stuck to the game plan and it was my best performance so far.

"We won this battle before I got in the ring. This fight was about showing I had boxing ability. But I can box better. I was in second gear and could do 25 rounds at that pace. I'm not happy with the performance because I don't feel like I've been in a fight. I've only got a bit of a black eye and nothing else to show for it. I've got to sleep on it, watch the video and see how good it was."

After a catalogue of bruising encounters, with three of his previous four bouts being complete tear-ups, Froch lauded his achievements.

"You've only got so many of those hard fights and I have been in with the likes of Mikkel Kessler, Jermain Taylor and Jean Pascal," he said. They shorten your career but that fight has taken nothing out of me. I tried to minimise the damage.

"I've been involved in the most exciting fights in the UK recently, so yeah, I am the most exciting fighter in Britain."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.