Carl Froch vs Mikkel Kessler Preview

By Boxing News - 05/25/2013 - Comments

froch423By Peter Wells (twitter – @boxingpeter): Just over an hour after the whole of Europe witnesses an all German affair at Wembley Stadium in the Champions League Final, their gaze will switch in the same direction as the rest of the world to watch the second installment of the enticing Carl Froch vs Mikkel Kessler thrill ride.

At 11:15pm the two fighters will make the daunting walk to the ring at the O2 Arena. For the final time they will feel the presence of those closest to them, and feel the range of emotions all rolled up into one. Nerves. But once these two warriors step inside the ropes into what that they call home, all those emotions are drained from them, and they evaporate into the ring mat. Suddenly these two men, are alone, emotionless. This is the dangerous combination that brings out such violence in men that are so cool and loving beyond the ropes. And when these men experience this surreal feeling the addiction sets in. For Froch and Kessler, that addiction set in a long, long time ago. What happens in the ring, stays in the ring, what they do is just second nature to these men they call, boxers.

To quickly re-cap the first encounter between these pair in Denmark, it was simply a 50-50 fight. One of the oldest clichés in boxing, but one that applies to any fight that leaves one second guessing his own scorecard. Kessler and Froch traded blows, but neither could bowl the other over, leaving the two fighters tired and beaten. Kessler’s wounds were soothed by the bitter medicine, victory, while Froch could only lick his wounds and wait for the next lion to join him in the cage. From a personal stand point I had Froch just ahead, albeit from a slightly biased pair of eyes. I have never re-scored the fight, although on second watching it did seem right that Kessler got the nod.

Many opinions on how this fight will pan out have been flashed around. Some say that Froch will outbox the more battle-scarred Kessler, while others have the impression that the Nottingham man will batter the Dane into submission. Others see Kessler as the man to show the larger arsenal of boxing skills, while very few predict Kessler can stop the yet-to-be-stopped Carl Froch.

The sensible option for Froch would be to outbox Kessler, before unloading volleys of hard punches to close out rounds. To put it better Froch needs to control the fight. As for Kessler his job will be to destroy Froch’s control button, tear up the script and offer Froch an array of styles to keep the IBF Super Middleweight champion guessing. Once again to put things simply, Kessler needs to control the fight.

So, the question is, who will control the fight? Your guess is as good as mine, but in sports, guessing is almost always the way to win. For me the guess is for Froch to take control of the fight, well most of it. Kessler will have his fair share of control. The WBA champion will try to engage when Froch wants to box, and in those rounds, scoring the bout will get very interesting.

A stoppage could be on the cards, but the pick is for Carl Froch to start the bout with caution, aware of not getting too carried away early. After 4 or 5 rounds, Froch, trailing will gradually up the tempo. Both fighters will share the effective punches category but Froch’s work rate will steer the judges his way in those ‘How do you score that?!’ rounds. By the final bell, both fighters will look oddly similar to fight 1, and once again it will be the home fighter taking gulps of the incredible healing power of Victory!



Comments are closed.