Who is Next for Carl Froch?
June 20th, 2009
By Liam Santiago: Undefeated British boxing star, Carl Froch (25-0, 20ko’s), is arguably Britain’s biggest and best hope in boxing today. Having recently knocked-out Jermain Taylor (28-2-1) in the 12th round Froch now has many options for his next fight including Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins, Lucian Bute and Kelly Pavlik.
Besides a super-fight with Calzaghe, the next best thing has to be Mikkel Kessler who has only ever lost to Calzaghe. Kessler posesses a granite chin, amazing knockout power and a great heart. However, Froch also posesses all these qualities. The only weakness in Froch is his defence.
Plus, he isn’t the faster super-middleweight. In a recent interview Froch said he would be intrested in fight Lucian Bute next, also unbeaten. This bout would not be as big for Froch but would be a tough test. Bute is a very tough fighter and could cause Froch problems but he is not the biggest name out of the fighters he has to choose from.
If he seriously wants a mega fight with Calzaghe, and tempt him out of retitement, the quickest way to do that has to be by convincingly beating Mikkel Kessler. If he can do that Calzaghe might be tempted into one final fight.
Bernard Hopkins is another option for Froch, regarded as some, such as boxrec, as the best pound for pound boxer in the world. Hopkins recently beat undefeated American star Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins gave Pavlik a boxing lesson and beat him to every puch. Even at the age of 44, Hopkins could be a real threat for Froch, he has a tricky stlye of boxing and still looks in top condition.
However, a win over Hopkins may not get the same respect as a win over any of these other fighters, mainly because critics would claim Hopkins was ‘shot’ and ‘past it’. Kelly Pavlik is also an option. He has looked good in his comeback fight and has the power to hurt Froch.
Froch is only finally starting to get the recognition as a boxer he deserves. He has a massive heart, great knockout power in both hands and a granite chin, with this he has the ability to match any opposition out there. Obviously, the fight he would want most is Calzaghe, but that might not be realistic.
The best way for him to work towards that fight is to beat Kessler and the sooner he does it the better. He would probably be best fighting Kessler first, in hope of dragging Calzaghe out retirement, then if he cant, fighting Hopkins. He has plenty of options and has everything it takes to go on and become a British legend.
Tags: 16 Responses to “Who is Next for Carl Froch?”
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Froch needs to fight his mandatory in Andre Ward. Ward dominated Edison Miranda and no one even mentions his name as a possible opponent.
i have not seen brute fight b4,my support is 4 carl as the man has limated skills ie speed but the gug is a f@#king warhorse who just keeps coming at u.
plus his atatude of fighting the best at his waight needs 2 b inbraced by all the top boxers of r age (mayweather, pacman and u khan.)
That’s fair enough, your entitled to your opinion. I’ll go with the i’m right and I believe your wrong attitude but its interesting listening to your points. If Froch loses one of the fights I predict him to win, I promise I will be straight back on here to admit I was wrong, but until then, lets just enjoy watching him fight the best fights out there.
dave h, i have followed him since he was on the bbc(about 15 fights) and have never been impressed, as his last two fights were at world level they are the best ones to judge him by.
robin reid(did you see lacy crush him) was the biggest name on his record before that and reids best days were in the 90′s.
maybe your right and i’m wrong but from what i have seen so far it’s doubtful.
I think Froch would be wise to steer clear of Hopkins. Froch is a similar throwback style fighter to Pavlik and Hopkins schooled him for 12 rounds. A bout between The Executioner and The Cobra would be a one sided massacre. Froch just doesn’t have the boxing skills to compete with Hopkins.
Admitedly Froch has a very good chin and and a big heart but if it wasn’t for Jermaine Taylor’s stamina letting him down in the later rounds Froch would no longer be the WBC champion.
Let’s face it Froch got lucky. Jermaine Taylor out-boxed, out-worked, and out-classed Froch for 11 rounds. His defence is non-existent and he relies too heavily on his granite chin and punching power. He doesn’t have any hand speed whatsoever making it a lot easier for classy opponents to ride his shots or counter punch.
I’m British and would love to see Carl Froch dominate the super-middleweight division but unfortunately it’s not going to happen because he doesn’t have the basic boxing skills necessary to be a world class fighter.
to dave h, it’s pro-longing not pre-longing dopey. when has he ever showcased his skills, i have never seen it, he’s beat up the little man plenty of times but any good stick and move fighter would beat him easily, i mean o.k. the finish vs taylor was impressive but dont be fooled into thinking he’s a world beater, at best froch is a average boxer with probably the worst defencive skills by some distance of any currant champ, he does have heavy hands and throws a good uppercut but thats all, being an englishman i really hope that he proves me wrong, but cant see it happening, he’s too slow and is far too easy to hit.
froch is very under-rated in all fairness. he does in fact have particulary good boxing skills, but hasn’t put them on show in his last couple of fights due to trying to show a good tear up/good fight for the fans. if you don’t believe me listen to him in his corner against taylor when he says it and gets a load of verbal abuse off his corner for it.
personally, i would like him to fight bute and then pavlik (with pavlik comming up to super mid, as froch would never be able to go down). then might his mandatories which i expect him to have afterwards- i.e. dirrell and andrade. depending on how those go, fight bika for the IBO title or fight kessler if he has sorted his promotional problems out. i can’t see him fighting for the WBO title nor fighting hopkins, so those are the fights for him. he could after those fight dawson if he’s still around or/and calzaghe.
i’ve thrown in bika and a couple other “lesser” fights because they are either mandatory or simply so froch can have a couple easy fights, as a fighter only has so many hard fights/wars in him.
if he loses any or most of these he could also go up to light-heavy and fight up there, thus pre-longing his career.
peter manfredo stood a better chance against calzaghe than froch ever will at least he has some form of defence! froch cant slip punches like he wishes he could and when he got dropped by a standard bad intentions punch i thought what would a big hitter like kelly p or mikkel kessler do to him. and oh yeah james so by your reconing chris eubank was a bum! you prune.
And what people also forget about the Froch, is the fact that he has been to University (why he didn’t turn pro until 25) studying sports science & is a world amateur silver medalist.
Clever guy who knows how to pace his stamina & punching power. He had a terrible fight against Taylor & still knocked him out.
I think theres many boxers that would hate to fight him (& i include Hopkins= Very pumped up for Pavlik, with a point to prove + Kelly froze)
If he’s a paper champ, why is nobody calling him out?
Yes, he is so under-rated. He has took some awful verbal abuse from Calzaghe recently which he did not deserve. If joe is so sure how bad a fighter he is he should put his gloves where his mouth is and fight him.
Can’t agree with you more Jim.
Ppl are vastly under estimating Froch!!
Froch is a much better fighter than he’s given credit for. A lot of people see him as an easy target. Far from it – Carl is the worst nightmare for anyone – he is awkward, punches hard and can take shots all night and still keep coming. He paces himself well, despite the fact he looks lazy at times, but as he showed against Pascal and Taylor, keeps punching all the way to the finish and carries his power very late!
i think if carl beats Kessler joe should take the 5 mill carl has already offered and get the fight on 2 fortifie is record. (joe on points easy)
The truth is out there somewhere – blowing in the wind.
Hopkins should not be an option for anybody at Froch’s or Pavliks stage in their careers. I stll dont understand why Pavlik took him on. yeah hea made some nice cash out of it but its really slowed his career down and hes just about caught up now.
The top men in the super middle division should be his only options he should look at. Stick on the route hes lookin at which is taking all the titles in this division.
The obvious route should be a unification bout with Kessler. But Kessler is in a wrangle with his promoter. So in that case, I say Froch fight either HBopkins of Bute…