Lem's latest: Ward's mother says Froch paid for disrespect

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Moments prior to Saturday night's post-fight interview following her son's unanimous decision victory over Carl Froch, of England, Madeline Arvie Taylor landed a stinging retort as potent as any punch by her son, RING No. 9-rated pound-for-pound fighter Andre Ward, of Oakland, Calif., during his Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic championship bout at Boardwalk Hall.

Taylor still was simmering from the  events that took place at Friday's weigh-in, during which the 27-year-old Ward (25-0, 13 knockouts) was greeted by chants of  "S.O.B" -- a nasty play on the deeply religious fighter's "S.O.G." nickname, which stands for "Son Of God" -- from the hoard of British fans who packed into the Circus Maximus room at Caesar's Casino in support of the 34-year-old Froch (28-2, 20 KOs).

"I'm Andre Ward's mother, and I was very offended, because my granchildren, his wife and his kids and his aunties and stuff were there, and it's S.O.G., and it's not S.O.B., and to me, that was very disrespectful in the name of God," said Taylor.

"And I thought that was highly unacceptable, but I think that he paid for it. By him doing that, in my mind, the way that I believe, he was going to have to answer, and I believe that he did answer for his behavior."

Ward's supporters were also on hand, one with a banner that read "Shut the Froch up!"

"I thought that my son did an excellent job, especially after all of the talk that Froch has beeen doing and all of the talk taht his fans were doing that day. I believe in God, and I knew that God had my son in this fight, and that's why we call him S.O. G. -- the son of God."

As THE RING's No. 1 and No. 2-rated fighters in their division, Ward defeated Froch for THE RING's vacant super middleweight crown while also adding Froch's WBC belt to the WBA crown he already owned.

Ward, himself, took the teasing a little more light-hearted than did his mom.

"They were making light of [his nickname.] Froch's fans are great for the sport, and they're fighter. It's part of the game. I don't take it personal. I got fired up at the weigh-in when I heard them chanting and stuff. But that's what it's all about," said Ward.

"It's good for the sport. They're passionate for their fighter, and I'm passionate to win. That's Carl's style, talking. But I'm trying to show the young kids coming up that you don't have to do that. You can believe in yourself. You can still be humble and be a fierce competitor."

Ward made $900,000, and Froch, $600,000, plus some cash from British television.

A KEANE EYE FOR DETAIL?

Prior toe the fight, Ward's promoter, Dan Goossen, said he has "zero" concerns about the judges, despite the fact that Ward-Froch comes in the wake of last week's controversial, split-decision upset by Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs), over heavily favored Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KOs), of England, that took place in Peterson's hometown of Washington, D.C. 

Goossen's faith bore itself out in the final tallies, particularly when it came to United Kindom judge John Keane, whose score of 118-110 in Ward's favor was by far the widest margin of victory among the three. Canada's Craig Metcalfe and Philadelphia's John Stewart each scored if 115-113 for the winner.

FROCH CONTINUES BRITISH LOSING STREAK ABROAD

In defeat, Froch joined countrymen such as Khan, Darren Barker, David Haye, Matthew Hatton, Matthew Macklin, Dereck Chisora, Brian Magee, John Murray, Martin Murray and Ryan Rhodes as winless warriors abroad.

All but Murray, who battled to a draw with Felix Sturm, have lost when fighting off English soil.