By Jim Dower: Today on Steve Bunce’s Boxing Hour show, WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KOs) said that he’d be willing to fight World Boxing Association super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) next, even if it meant that Froch would have to travel all the way to Denmark in order to fight Kessler in his home country. Strangely enough, this is the exact same advice that former WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe gave to Froch recently, telling him to beat Kessler and establish himself as the best super middleweight in the division.
This is about the best that Froch can do for himself; because Calzaghe has made it known that he has no interest in coming out of retirement to give Froch a chance to fight him. Unfortunately, it’s highly doubtful that a Kessler-Froch bout can be made in the near future, due to Kessler having promotional issues.
Froch, 31, came up with his best win of his seven year pro-career last Saturday night scoring a knockout over Jermain Taylor in the 12th round with only 14 seconds at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut. From the moment that Froch got the win, his popularity has soared in the boxing world. Froch was behind in the fight and came dug deep to pull out the victory in the 12th round in a thrilling come from behind victory.
Froch immediately called out Joe Calzaghe after the fight, but Joe made it clear that he has no intentions of fighting Froch even if he were to come back. That still leaves Froch with a lot of other options, such as Kessler, if the Danish fighter is willing to fight Froch.
Kessler’s only loss of his career was a close 12-round decision loss to Calzaghe in November 2007. Since that fight, Kessler has done little, beating Dimitri Sartison and Danilo Haussler in 2008, and turning down a fight with Edison Miranda.
Given Kessler’s less than spectacular opposition last year, the Miranda fight seems like it would have been a much better option for Kessler to have taken in terms of helping his career and helping him make a name for himself in the U.S.
Daniel Jacobs Added to Pacquiao-Hatton Undercard
Unbeaten super middleweight prospect Daniel Jacobs (15-0, 14 KOs) will be facing once-beaten middleweight Michael Walker (19-1, 12 KOs) on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton bout this Saturday night at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jacobs, 22, is a replacement for undefeated light middleweight contender James Kirkland, who was removed from the card due to a recent arrest for having a weapon found in his car by Police. With Kirkland off the card, this gives Jacobs a huge opportunity to show his talent in front of a big worldwide audience.
Jacobs fought recently, stopping the normally durable Jose Varela in the 2nd round last Friday night at the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois. It was thought that the strong-chinned Varela would be able to give Jacobs some rounds.
However, Jacobs put Varela away with a one-punch knockout in the 2nd round, hammering Varela with a big right hand and leaving him on the canvas for a long period of time. It was Jacobs’ 14th knockout in 15 wins since turning pro two years ago in 2007. Jacobs is easily the best prospect in the Golden Boy Promotions stable, and the only one that I can see that will ever be a champion.
Walker, 30, was previously scheduled to face Kirkland, which was no piece of cake either. Now, Walker finds himself in with a puncher who probably has even more single punch power than Kirkland. Although in Jacob’s case, he’s nowhere as busy as Kirkland is with his punches.
Jacobs doesn’t have to be because of his big power. He often scores quick one-punch knockouts and doesn’t need to smother his opponents in the same way that Kirkland does. Walker is coming off an 8-round majority decision win over Antwun Echols in October 2008.
It was Walker’s second time fighting Echols and neither of the fights were all that impressive. I had Echols winning both of them, but they could have gone either way. Walker did show a good chin against Echols, who nailed him often with heavy shots.
Walker is going to have to hope that his chin can hold up for him this Saturday night or else he’ll be in for a short night and end up as another one of Jacobs’ many knockout victims.
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