By Scott Gilfoid: IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KO’s) turns 37-years-old today, and there’s no word about who he plans on fighting later this year or if he’ll even fight in the second half of 2014. His promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in matching him against former WBC middleweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in November or December, but those dates might not work for Chavez Jr’s management, who want to see him back in the ring in September.
Why Froch would need extra time to prepare for Chavez Jr is unknown, because it’s not as if he’s still licking his wounds from his recent rematch against George Groves from last May. Groves fought totally defensively and didn’t unload on Froch like he did in their first fight. Froch ended up stopping Groves in the 8th round with a right to the head in a boring fight other than the finish.
If Hearn isn’t able to put together a fight with Top Rank for a Froch-Chavez Jr fight this year, then Hearn will likely go ahead and put together a third fight between Froch and the inactive Mikkel Kessler. I think that’s a pure waste of time, because it’s no longer a great fight due to Kessler’s inactivity and the fact that Froch already beat him last year. I mean, how do you put together a third fight between Froch and Kessler with Kessler having been out of the ring for over a year after a listless performance against Froch last year in May.
Just because Hearn can put that fight tighter doesn’t mean he should. I think Andre Dirrell vs. Froch II would be a better idea than seeing Froch fight Kessler a third time. At least with a Dirrell-Froch rematch, you don’t know what you’re going to get because Dirrell clearly got the better of Froch in their fight in 2009.
Hearn hasn’t talked about Froch fighting anyone else besides Kessler and Chavez Jr in 2014. Not surprisingly, Gennady Golovkin’s name hasn’t been mentioned for Froch. Golovkin would be someone who would give Froch major problems as Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr of HBO recently pointed out due to his ability to make Froch pay for his mistakes in the ring.
Kellerman said “I think he [Froch] would be a substantial underdog no matter where they fought – England, the moon, anywhere – against Andre Ward or Gennady Golovkin.”
You can forget about Ward as a potential opponent for Froch, because his name isn’t being mentioned either. Hearn doesn’t see Ward as a good opponent for Froch due to his belief that the Oakland, California native doesn’t bring in a lot of fans. The reality is a Froch-Ward II fight would likely sell out the Wembley Stadium in London, UK, because Froch would be seen fighting the best in the super middleweight champion instead of an unproven contender like in his last fight against Groves. Ward thinks it’s just an excuse that Froch’s team is making by saying that he doesn’t bring in the fans. Ward sees it as a situation where he’s being ducked by Froch, and he has no respect for that.
At 37, Froch is pretty much at the end of his career and is winding things down with his last 2-3 fights. He could probably fight on for another 3 years if he wanted to if he chose to merely defend his titles without fighting the likes of Andre Ward and a couple of other dangerous fighters. But Froch is looking to get the biggest fights possible and get out of the ring.
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