Carl Froch gives an insight into what it is like to face Andre Ward, ahead of Sergey Kovalev's blockbuster rematch with the current light-heavyweight king.
Froch lost a unanimous decision to Ward when the super-middleweights fought in Atlantic City as part of the Super Six tournament, with the WBA 'super' and WBC world titles also on the line.
'The Cobra' admits it was a frustrating night's work against the Californian technician, but does he think Ward can be beaten?
Does Andre Ward have any weaknesses?
I think he fades late on but maybe it was because he struggled to make super-middleweight. He was starting to run away from me in the last couple of rounds, but maybe he knew he'd won it on points and was just killing the clock down and staying out of trouble.
But if the fight went 15 rounds, I honestly think I could've got him out of there.
What was your game plan?
It's difficult to say because me and Rob [McCracken] never went into a fight with one. People talk about Plan A, Plan B and even a C, but you have to see what the other guy brings on the night.
We pretty much knew what Ward was going to do, but I had seen him out-box people, not sit on their chest, tie them up and be boring and ugly.
We never said the game plan was to stay up close and work with him in there, or run, jab and move because you can't really have that sort of plan against somebody like Ward. On the outside, for me, he was too quick and too skilful.
I suppose the game plan was to work, land shots and get hit as little as possible.
How good is Ward at fighting on the inside?
On the outside, he generally has it all his own way and is fast behind the jab and boxes very well. He stays out of the way and doesn't get hit by a punch. The jab, the hook and that right he shoots to the body are so fast and accurate.
When he's in trouble and it's hard for him he stays in close, hits, holds and uses his head, nullifying the opponent.
I did think up close that I could out-strength him because he's not a big puncher. But he knows what goes on up close and that makes him such a good fighter. He can adapt and change to each fight.
Did Ward surprise you in any way?
His physical strength surprised me. I can out-strength probably anyone up close and I have previously done a bit of MMA which helps, but Ward surprised me - he was very strong.
Is the American difficult to hit?
I started to get to him with a couple of shots late on, when he was running. A few to the body and a little right when close up but, to be honest, he's really difficult to hit.
At arm's length he was almost impossible to tag, simply because I wasn't fast enough. He had the speed on me, which a lot of fighters had on me. Jermain Taylor had it on me but I was able to close him down, back him up, wear him out and then knock him out. Ward knows how to survive.
At what point did you think that you were not going to be able to beat him?
Around the fifth or sixth round, I sat down and just said to my trainer: "I can't hit him!" I couldn't get near him. It was so frustrating and when the 12th-round bell went I just sort of held my hands out to say I've lost the fight. I knew I'd lost but I didn't think I'd even had a fight.
Usually, my hands are hurting after a fight but they didn't. My face looked a little red and marked round the nose because I'd had his head rubbing against my face all night, but I never got hit by anything big.
He didn't really hit me, I didn't hit him and I lost 115-113 on two of the cards but people were saying I was outclassed. I was one round behind a draw, so how can they think that?
How good is Ward pound for pound?
Ward is in the 'who needs him' or the 'who wants to try and beat him' club, so everyone turns up to watch and just thinks 'right I want to see him get beat now' just like they did with Floyd Mayweather.
However, I think he will eventually get to that level where he is unbeaten and is pretty much unbeatable.
Paul Smith vs Tyron Zeuge is live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 9pm on Saturday, then Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev II is live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 2am on Sunday morning.