HELSINKI — Carl Froch of Britain unanimously outpointed Arthur Abraham of Germany in 12 rounds Saturday night to take the vacant WBC super middleweight title.
Two judges scored it 120-108 and the third had it 120-109.
The 33-year-old Froch improved to 27-1. The Armenian-born Abraham dropped to 31-2.
The two men met in the ring for the first time in stage three of the Super Six World Boxing Classic.
Froch bounced back from losing to Denmark's Mikkel Kessler in April in his last fight. The 6-foot-1 Froch used his superior reach, height and technical prowess to hold off Abraham and landed several good series of punches.
After a cautious start, Abraham picked up in the second round but managed only to attack in spurts.
In the sixth round, two blows from Froch seemed to connect forcing Abraham down but U.S. referee Frank Garza ruled it as a slip.
Froch hammered Abraham — on the ropes — in the eighth. The German had almost come to a standstill by the 11th but made a desperate attack for a knockout in the last round. Froch was unfazed and took the title home.
The tournament in the 168-pound class has five boxers with Andre Ward of the United States leading with six points. Froch has four points, while Abraham and Glen Johnson of the United States each have three. U.S fighter Allan Green has zero points.
Johnson was added to the Super Six after Denmark's Mikkel Kessler withdrew in April due to an eye injury.
The four fighters with the most points, earned based on the outcome of three group stage fights, will meet in seeded semifinals early next year.