Froch vs. Chavez Jr. could be next in the fall, says Rafael

By Boxing News - 05/31/2014 - Comments

froch#1By Scott Gilfoid: A fight between IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KO’s) and former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is possible for the fall, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Rafael says that Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn had a conversation with Top Rank promotions about a potential fight between Froch and Chavez Jr. The Froch-Chavez Jr. fight would be a pay-per-view bout in the U.S, although I have serious doubts whether it would be a marketable fight due to Froch not having a huge fan base in America.

“Froch could be headed for Vegas for next fight. Top Rank and Eddie spoke a few days ago about possible Chavez fight in the fall. #boxing,” Rafael said on his twitter.

Earlier tonight, Froch defeated George Groves (19-2, 15 KO’s) by an 8th round knockout in what was supposedly a sold out crowd of 80,000 fans. It looked more like 40,000 to me. I’m not sure what happened to the so crowd. I guess they blew town this weekend instead of going to the fight. There might have been 80,000 tickets sold, but this definitely not 80,000 fans. I saw a half empty Wembley Stadium tonight even during the main event between Froch and Groves.

James DeGale defeated Brandon Gonzales tonight in the IBF super middleweight title eliminator by a 4th round knockout. The victory makes DeGale the IBF mandatory challenge for Froch, but it doesn’t look like DeGale will be next in line for Froch. It just means that he’s the mandatory and he gets to wait in line for a year or so for him to get a crack at Froch’s title. Froch does plan on fighting again, but whether he’ll give DeGale a shot at his titles is debatable. I think DeGale might have done too good of a job on Gonzales tonight for his own good, as I can see Froch choosing to either vacate his IBF strap or retire rather than getting in the ring with DeGale.

“Froch wants to fight in Las Vegas, Nevada for some season. “That, to me, would be hard to top,” Froch said about his win over Groves to ESPN. “I’d love to box in Las Vegas. It ticks a really special box for me. It’s the fight capital of the world. I will never top boxing at Wembley, the National Stadium, in front of 80,000 people. To put boxing on this platform is special. I’m very proud. But I’m not going to even think about it right now. I’m going to take the summer off.”

At the post fight press conference, Froch didn’t say anything about wanting to fight the best fighter in the super middleweight division in Andre Ward. It was kind of strange that Froch wouldn’t mention Ward because he whipped him three years ago, and Froch never attempted to avenge the defeat. No matter how many times Froch fights Groves, Ward will always be the guy that beat him 3 years ago.

As for the Chavez Jr-Froch fight, I think Chavez Jr. would be way too big and strong for Froch and I can’t see him beating the Mexican warrior. Chavez Jr. would be able to take Froch’s best shots and beat him up in a way that he’s never been beaten before by going to his body. Froch hasn’t faced any body punchers during his career and it would be a new experience for him. At 36, Froch would be getting hit by the best body puncher in the super middleweight division and I doubt Froch would hang for long against a guy like Chavez Jr. If Groves, with his poor stamina, was able to stun Froch tonight, it would be far worse with Chavez Jr. fighting Froch.



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