Froch: I won’t be forced into a DeGale fight

By Boxing News - 09/21/2014 - Comments

froch67By Scott Gilfoid: Well, it looks like IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch doesn’t like the idea of fighting his #1 IBF mandatory challenger James DeGale. Froch is saying that he doesn’t feel really motivated to take that fight next year, and he doesn’t want to risk his legacy fighting DeGale if he’s not fully motivated to take the fight.

Instead of facing DeGale, Froch is kicking around the idea of fighting 35-year-old Mikkel Kessler for a third time or possibly Julio Cesar Chavez Jr or Anthony Dirrell.

What I want to know is why isn’t Froch trying to get a fight against WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin? Froch asked boxing fans to pick from a list of three fighters – James DeGale, Gennady Golovkin and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr – in a poll on Froch’s Facebook page.

Golovkin won the poll, and fans assumed that Froch would then lash his promoter Eddie Hearn to start putting a fight together between him and Golovkin. But instead of doing that, Froch continued to talk about wanting to fight Chavez Jr, which obviously is a fight that’s not going to happen. Now with the Chavez Jr fight not a possibility, Froch is kicking around the idea of fighting Mikkel Kessler, even though Kessler hasn’t fought for close to 2 years since the last time Froch fought him in early 2013. I have no clue why Froch is thinking of fighting Kessler because he’s no longer relevant given his inactivity.

It would be a fight that might play to the casual boxing fans in the UK who have no idea that Kessler had stopped fighting. But the hardcore boxing fans are likely going to see it a money grab attempt rather than a serious fight. I mean, I could understand Froch getting worked up about fighting Kessler if the guy had been staying busy by fighting the best in the 168 pound division, but Kessler hasn’t fought since his poor effort last year against Froch. How do you sell a fight between two guys if one of them has been sitting on his backside for close to 2 years?

“You know if James DeGale fights me, he’s getting knocked out,” Froch said to IFL TV. “He just wants to earn some cash because he’s struggled with his career and he’s not had a big fight. If he thinks he’s going to force me to fight or tell me he’s the mandatory then he’s going to get a real shock. I won’t be pushed. There are so many options. When I fight it’s not about the world titles. I’m not going to potentially tarnish my legacy fighting someone I’m not motivated for and go in half-cocked like I did in y first Groves fight and ruin my legacy.”

This is a real compliment that Froch is paying DeGale by saying that he might lose to him if he doesn’t go into the fight totally motivated to fight him. You would think that since it’s a fight, Froch would fight tooth and nail regardless once he starts getting hit in the face by DeGale, but evidently that’s not the case.

What Froch should do is pick out either Anthony Dirrell or Andre Dirrell and stick the fight in the Wembley Stadium. Froch could cut George Groves out of the picture by getting to Anthony Dirrell first. The better fight obviously would be a rematch between Froch and Andre Dirrell, but I doubt Froch will ever choose to get back in the ring with Andre again after the hard time he had with him in 2009.



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