Froch thinks Kessler might choose to jab and hold

Photo Credit -Tony Brochner – By William Mackay: WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KO’s) thinks that his Super Six tournament opponent this Saturday night Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KO’s) could choose to box him from the outside, saying in an article at the Telegraph, “He [Kessler] might opt to jab, move and keep out of my way and put on a bit of a boxing match. It’s then my job to cut off the ring and put him on his back foot and hammer home some big digs. Once I start hitting him, though, he might start holding.”

I think Froch is having too many memories of his last fight with Andre Dirrell, because Kessler doesn’t clinch a lot, at least not in any of the fights that I’ve seen from him. And I don’t expect for Kessler to start clinching 24/7 when he gets pressured a little by Froch. If anything, Kessler will use lateral movement, jab and land straight right hands down the middle as Froch comes plodding forward with his hands down by his waist. But he most certainly will be jabbing.

Froch has that part right, but that goes without saying. Of course, Kessler is going to be jabbing and moving a little. He always that way in every bout and I don’t see him changing that now that he’s fighting a slightly taller opponent like Froch.

Froch says “I always just work on what I do best, which is my fitness, speed and elusiveness. I acknowledge and recognize Mikkel Kessler is a tough fighter, very experienced and he means business.” I think Froch is way off in listing his speed and elusiveness as one of his assets. I think he’s got that backwards. I think Froch is slow, both with hand speed and foot movement and he isn’t elusive at all.

On the contrary, Froch is wide open defensively because of his bad habit of fighting with his hands down by his waist and because of his tendency to want to mix it up much of the time with his opponents. He’s right about his stamina as being one of his strengths, though. That is one of his strengths for him, but I think it depends on whom he’s fighting. In his bouts against Jean Pascal and Jermain Taylor, Froch looked strong at the end and better conditioned than Pascal and Taylor. However, against Andre Dirrell, Froch looked tired in the last three rounds of the fight, and took punishment in rounds 10 through 12. Maybe Froch’s conditioning was working as usual on that night, but Dirrell looked to be the stronger fighter at the end of that fight, not Froch.

This is a fight that could look a little like the Froch-Dirrell fight in that Kessler should dominate Froch rather easily from the distance because of his better jab, movement and quicker hands. However, Froch will try to get in close enough to attempt to batter Kessler at close quarters and rough him up constantly. If Kessler lets Froch get near him for prolonged periods of time, he could let Froch win some rounds. But if he stays on the move and keeps out of range of the British fighter, he should be able to win by a comfortable margin.

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