Calzaghe Takes Froch Threat Seriously
April 29th, 2009
By Enrique Sanchez: Carl Froch has divided popular opinion and also many boxing fans and critics alike, with his calling-out of Welshman Joe Calzaghe recently after his sensational last-gasp TKO victory over Jermain ‘Bad Intentions’ Taylor at the weekend. But some disgruntled fans of unbeaten Calzaghe, feel that he is not qualified to call out their retired hero, that Froch has almost desecrated the holy grave and memory of their Welsh idol by simply uttering his name.
The reality is, Calzaghe had ducked Froch and many others during his career.
Calzaghe, who claimed his WBO title in October 1997 on an undercard, was playing second fiddle to Sheffield stars Johnny Nelson and Prince Naseem Hamed. His victory over ‘legend’ Chris Eubank has been written in folklore – however, when a story is told several times in can be manipulated. The reality is, Chris Eubank was afforded little more than two weeks to a) prepare and b) shed an 18lb weight excess for the fight which saw him momentarily floored in the opener, before giving a younger Calzaghe a torrid fight for 12 rounds.
Eubank had been on a losing streak going into the last minute title challenge and then subsequently when onto to be outpointed and knocked out by Carl Thompson before he finally called it a day. Unfortunately for Calzaghe, the lion’s share of his ‘prestige’ opponents were all in the last throws of downwards career.
He then followed up his world title win with mediocrity of the highest order. His first defense was against the appalling Branco Sobot, a man not worthy of ‘journeyman’ tag. Before stepping it up a level to fight a man worthy of his journeyman tag, Juan Ferreyra – a traveler whom had shared the ring with a shabby, shell of Roberto Duran some decade earlier.
The likes of Byron Mitchell (who floored Calzaghe) and Charles Brewer were mis-sold to the unknowing UK public as big-gun American danger men. The reality is they were in the twilight of their careers – not too dissimilar to the likes of Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones in the fact they had maybe one or two fights left in them after long careers. In the case of Byron Mitchell, his services were acquired for pennies, after he’d suffered yet another loss at the hands of Sven Ottke only 2 months previously.
Meanwhile Carl Froch has not had the fortitude of a clever marketer to steer his path through the minefield of danger men and risks to the pot of gold. Froch has done things in the traditional manner. He fought for the Commonwealth title in his only 12th fight before adding the British title in his 14th fight with a crushing 2 minute knockout of Damon Hague.
A blaze of knockouts ensued with wins over Henry Porras, Russian champion Sergey Tatevosyan, Mark Woolnough and former WBC champion Robin Reid. Plus he took care of domestic rivals Tony Dodson, Brian Magee and Robin Reid. All had the potential to be banana skins for the Nottingham fighter, but he took care of all of them without the need for the judges. Magee, Tatevosyan and Woolnough had never been halted until they faced Froch, whom also handed Reid and Dodson their quickest defeats.
Calzaghe won his world title in his 23rd fight, whereas it took Froch 24 fights to win his prestigious WBC version in front of a 10,000 strong audience, in a marquee fight televised to millions across the United Kingdom.
Froch then subsequently packed his bags and flew across the Atlantic to take on Jermain Taylor, to back up his bold claims that he wanted to fight the very best and would travel to achieve this. In a torrid opener, Froch was soundly out-boxed and pounded to the canvas in the third round by Taylor whom had obviously brought his A-game. Froch toiled through the later rounds before finding the right gears to dent Taylor, before consuming him in the later rounds and giving the popular Arkansas fighter a crushing knockout loss.
As a result of this, many Calzaghe fans, whom have been mis-sold mismatches over the years viewed this valiant and genuine fight as an exposé of Froch’s weaknesses that he can be out-boxed and that their hero would dominate the Cobra and that he has no business mentioning Calzaghe’s name.
This is utter nonsense.
Carl Froch has been forged in the hottest of fights and has subsequently been galvanized by them. His iron will and determination to walk though heavy blows to land his own is a testament to his warrior code. No journeyman or granddad defenses for Froch.
A well groomed Mikkel Kessler had his opportunity to defeat the Welshman, but politely rolled over after giving his best for the first half of the fight. If a chance for Froch arose to fight the Welshman, Calzaghe knows full well that it would not be a Copenhagen picnic in there – it would be a blood and guts effort from the Cobra from the first bell until the last.
Calzaghe has a macho streak, but he has had his chin cracked several times in his career, notably in his last two fights by guys not noted as knockout artists. Froch has that unique ability to carry his heavy artillery until the final bell and can finish a fighter when he has them hurt.
Indeed, Froch is an extremely dangerous fight for Calzaghe, whose powder-puff punching would not hold him at bay for the duration. An angular fighter with power in both hands, he has stopped opponents with shots upstairs and downstairs, with either hand.
It is no surprise to see Calzaghe issue his strongest anti-fight campaign to date, even greater than the Anti-Pavlik or Anti-Hopkins rematch press releases – it’s obvious he was ZERO to do with Froch.
He has said that even if he were to return, he’d never fight Froch – and he is getting his fans to buy into his ‘how dare he call me out’ propaganda across the forums too.
The tide is however changing. Younger fans are no longer believing the folklore and are seeing firsthand what a clever managed career can yield (See Amir Khan) and acknowledge what Froch is about.
Tags: 33 Responses to “Calzaghe Takes Froch Threat Seriously”
Leave a Reply
please use above banner to link back to us!
and still no replys to what i said.cause im right.
carl froch is the greatest boxer this country has ever produced hes a real warrior.he will fight only the BEST.
Joe is the bigget fraud in boxing.
Waste of talent,
Best win is against Lacy, Kessler wtf!? lol!?
Joe deserves all the plaudits and has nothing more to prove, but we have not had a match up like this in britain for a long time, i would love to see this fight, and you can’t blame froch for calling him out either, and for what its worth joe would win on points but have a few scares on the way,
I’ve never been a big Joe C. Fan, but I have to agree with most of the Brits here. I DON’T think Joe was the greatest boxers, but he was a VERY GOOD boxer with excellent speed. Obviously, he didn’t have much power, but it wasn’t important when you have 15 punches coming at you that hurt and you don’t know what to do in response. Joes career was a bit pampered however, ALMOST ALL OF THE NEW GENERATION FIGHTERS HAVE BEEN! It’s just part of the sport. Something that I have to say is that I think Joe’s ring generalship was virtually unsurpassed compared to most fighters in this day and age. I think he would get knocked down earlier because he was in process of figuring out his opponent. When you watch his fights he almost always looked uncomfortable in the early going, and as the fight would progress, he would figure the fighters abilities, and style. He was I believe a master at that. I don’t think there are many fighter who could beat him in his weight class even now. Certainly Carl Froch is nowhere near the class of Joe C. Froch has more holes in his game than swiss cheese. He will be exposed very, very soon even more than Jermain Taylor. It wasn’t Frochs to win, it was Taylors to lose. Lay off Joe, I think he was a bit unappreciated. I think he wanted to leave when he still had his wits about him, and well off. Unfortunately, most boxers don’t know when to retire (Roy Jones Jr.). My 2 cents.
I have never read such a load of bollocks in all my life. Chin cracked? Are you sure?
listen people,joe calzaghe was a very good boxer however he wasnt great,his best ever win was against hopkins,i scored that fight dead levle,you simply cant take anything away from a unbeaten record though.froch has done things the proper way and i salute him for beating pascal and taylor,in his own back yard,great statement,however he was exposed by a pretty good taylor.if joe and carl fought 10 times they would win 5 each.i cant think of another genuine 50/50 fight in world boxing,get it on you pair of mugs it would be a great spectacle
frochy boy is a bum fighter Fact cobra fan pmsl.
Reading this thread…
…I didnt realise there was that many computer’s in Wales ?
froch calling out calzaghe…what a joke.
Frochs sh1t….hes just lucky taylor let him nail him in the last round
YOU MGUYS ARE TOOLS,HOW CAN ANYONE TAKE AWAY A 46-0 CAREER FROM ANYONE?WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT,WEAK CHIN?JOE WAS NEVER EVEN WOBBLED LET ALONE KNOCKED OUT!
calzaghe would box his head off. froch thinks calzaghe made for him, hes the most awkward fighter around, and adaptive, he thinks calzaghe would be walking onto that long slow right hand uppercut. LETS BE COMPLETELY HONEST FROCHS IS LIVING IN CALZAGHES SHADOW.
Are you drunk?
Calzaghe was knocked down by Roy Jones with an elbow. Other times he’s been knocked down he’s got straight up instantly. He’s never been in deep trouble or even a tiny bit close to being stopped in his whole career.
Froch WAS hurt by Taylor. He took an 8 count on his knee. Calzaghe gets STRAIGHT back up.
Froch HAD to go to the states. He didn’t do it out of choice. His mandatory challenger was Taylor who wouldn’t come to the UK.
Did you see how may punches Froch absorbed from Taylor? He was countering and hitting him at will. Calzaghe is so fast Froch wouldn’t know what hit him. Froch fights in slow-motion, Calzaghe would hit him with 5 punches for every one of Frochs 5. And Calzaghe would NOT run out of steam in the 12th round like Taylor.
Frochy the most hated super middle of all time nothing more nothing less
joe woz the best supermiddle weight ov all time simple as that.
Strange – an article about Calzaghe that doesn’t mention Jeff Lacy.
Calzaghe will stay retired. If he did come back to fight Froch it will be an exciting fight – as Froch fights always are because he has no defence. Unless Froch learns to use a guard and stops waving his right hand around every time he jabs he’d get taken apart by Calzaghe, or someone else shortly down the line.
Thanks to the Internet people who do not know nothing about boxing do have a platform to write about this beautiful sport. What a ridiculous article …
No man is so talented as to completly dismiss another -Joe calzage has fought all the best well after their best days had past in a very well mapped out route to an undefeated record ,Much like peter mcNeely before fighting tyson. Fear is fear no matter how you mask it , Were just out of old dudes that want to be out pointed by another cutie pie – Cause its not fighting Its ballet!!!
what you slagging khan off his career is starting,joes a bum dont bracket khan with him for god sake
I am confused, now.
I always thought Joe’s records is not as solid as many people try to make it sound, but you cannot take away the glory from him. As for Froch, he should ignore Joe and keep on fighting the best boxers in his weight class. If you are a champ, fighters will come to you as ask for a fight – including Joe if he wants to
An excellent article through and through.
You can’t deny Calzaghe has had a good career in the respect that he managed to escape undefeated but that is what he did… escape. Every decision Joe Calzaghe made as a fighter was to preserve his undefeated record as he knew if he had that then he had something to cling to that most other fighters didn’t, regardless of who he fought to maintain it.
Of course he knows Carl Froch would be a tough fight. Calzaghe would not take the fight as even though he knows he would win the fight if it went the distance, he couldn’t get away with his powder puff slapping for 12 rounds due to the power of Froch which would easily put him down.
I can’t blame him for not taking the fight even though I want to see it. It’s just too much risk for him.
The torch has been passed now to Froch and the more high profile wins Carl Froch makes, the worse that feeling in Joe Calzaghe’s gut will become that he never tried to beat him himself.
I guarentee you in a few fights time Joe will be making statements saying that if he was in his prime he would have beat him but all everyone will wonder is… ‘why didn’t you when you had the chance then’?
Top boxing site, why? Because these writers know what they’re talking about.
Joe “BIGGEST FRAUD” Calzaghe hand picked everyone put in front of him, Lacy & Kessler are the only two worthy opponents in their prime, oh and sorry i forgot to mention the bum who won the Contender series 3
I beat B-hop and Jones, who are now grandfathers i now deserve a spot in the hall of fame. WOOHOOO
Joe is a bigger joke then his career.
this writer is implying froch would beat calzaghe…but if calzaghe did come out of retirement and beat froch….the next day on this joke of a website he would be saying….froch was exposed as a poor fighter, calzaghe hasn’t proved anything…so what the hell is the point? at the end of the day calzaghe retire as an undefeated millionairre and healthy, he beat every man who was put in front of him, you can not say he has poor boxing ability he cleaned up his divsion! this matter really needs to be finished and this website needs to leave calzaghe alone…HE’S RETIRED!!!!!!!!
How do you have Froch beat Calzaghe? Taylor (a man who’s only win recently was lacy, and even in that fight he was poor) should have beat Froch if he hadn’t been so incompetent (poor conditioning and poor cornermen who told him he needed a ko in the final round….great advice i think you’ll agree)
Now froch is very entertaining and love watching him fight, but in my opinion he’d just do what every fighter did when fighting Calzaghe – underestimate calzaghes punch strength, they won’t knock someone out – but they mess them up – and if they can’t think they can’t fight – so he’d lose
On a another note if calzaghes comes out of retirement its for “one last big fight” – Froch vs Calzaghe will not bring either the legacy or the money to be a sign off fight for calzaghe – so this is all a moot point anyway
I don’t know why you hate calzaghe, maybe its cause you saw him as a weak champion ripe for some young american to smash on the way to a title…just every time those bright new hopes for america came a calling they lost – just suck it up Calzaghes not ever gonna be in the top 10 best of ever lists…but he’s still earned his Hall of Fame/ great status
now can we talk about something else other than retired fighters
SUPER SUPER SUPER JOE, WOULD SMASH CARL, SO WOULD ROBIN RIED WHEN HE WAS WBC CHAMP
British fighters should stick together man. Froch should forget about Calzaghe and look for Kessler and Bute.
joe beats froch every time….that my opinion guys.
Goodness…any chance to have another dig and you boys will huh? I’m English not Welsh, froch is my countryman and a damn good fighter – maybe in Kessler’s league. But I am honest enough to concede that Calazghe was on another level. And for Calzaghes chin cracking? He never got knoced out….if you go down then get up to win surely that means you have a great chin right. I hope Froch goes on to unify the division and reign for many years as a great English champion. But will he take on all comers for 10yrs? No because no one will again in all probability. Froch should forget Calzaghe who is retired (he is 37 afterall) and build himself a legacy of greatness to compare with Joe’s. I just wish these guys could respect each other and that you guys could give an honest unbiased persective. For the record Hopkins did duck Joe early and Eubank claimed he was the greatest fighter he had ever faced, no excuses!
i am a rare breed in that i know that cazaghe and froch are both excellent boxers. joe deserves respect for his career and carl for his, however the fight will not happen and in my honest opinion i think froch would beat calzaghe.
Calzaghe retired with a 46-0 record, what an achievement, very few fighters will ever do the same, he is entitled to massive respect.
Carl froch deserves massive respect too, going to america to beat taylor in any circumstances was incredible, what a fight.
I think calzaghe -v- froch is a great match up, and a fight that could be massive, for us the fans.2 great fighters – what a pity if they never met in the ring. Heres to a real dream match up!
Will writers on this site please stop choosing to ignore the fact that Hopkins and Jones Jr turned down offers to fight Calzaghe when in their prime because there was not enough money in the fight for them (oh hang on, it doesnt make such an interesting read then does it?). Calzaghe fought the best fighters who where willing to fight him, if his unbeaten record is tainted due to lack of quality opposition it is not Calzaghes fault.
Joke article! not for the first time on this site! Calzaghe beat everyone that Wanted to fight him and deserved to fight him give him the credit he deserves!
Good fighter, but yeah you always felt the real deal was not shown, and it was a very orchestrated career, but I suppose he can count his money