By Eric Thomas: At today’s press conference with Jermain Taylor (28-2-1, 17 KOs)and World Boxing Council (WBC) super middleweight champion Carl Froch (24-0, 19 KOs) both fighters took turns slamming each other verbally for their April 25th world title bout at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Taylor, 30, the former World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion, seemed to get the better of the verbal sparring when he said “I don’t think he’s [Froch] is fast.
I think he’s too slow,” making known the obvious, that Froch doesn’t have much in the way of hand speed. Taylor then went on to point out that Froch has yet to learn how to lose, and that he planned on teaching him that.
Froch came across as being open about his limitations, specifically mentioning his lack of experience in fighting opponents on the world level in comparison to Taylor’s extensive resume which is filled with big named opponents like Bernard Hopkins, whom he defeated twice, Kelly Pavlik, Cory Spinks, Kassim Ouma, Winky Wright, William Joppy, Alex Bunema and Jeff Lacy.
In contrast, Froch has only fought two fighters that could arguably be called good – not great, though – in Tony Dodson and Jean Pascal. In the case of Pascal, the jury’s still out on whether he’s truly world class or not. He’s faced largely no one until taking on Froch, and did well for part of their 12 round bout in December, but then running out of gas in the last six rounds of the fight and looking exhausted. Dodson, a good British fighter, is not world class and would have huge problems if forced to fight one of the better super middleweights like Taylor.
Froch, 31, said that he has a backup plan to use if his initial plan, “Plan A,” doesn’t work for him against Taylor, saying “If plan A doesn’t work, then I’ll use plan B, and it will be destructive, trust me.” Most people assume that Froch will attempt to box Taylor initially, looking for opportunities to drop in Froch’s big right hand shots.
However, if that doesn’t work, it’s widely assumed that Froch will elect to use the plan that worked so well for knockout artist Kelly Pavlik by pressuring Taylor hard and forced him to expend energy and slug it out. If Froch is smart, he might opt to use the second plan as soon as he can, because if he allows Taylor to use his boxing skills, Froch may find himself trailing in the fight and in need of a knockout to win.
There’s little doubt that Taylor has the better jab, faster hands and superior foot movement. The only thing Froch brings to the table is crushing power and a good chin. He’ll have to hope that his chin holds up under the shots that he’ll be leaving himself open for as he attacks Taylor.
However, that’s perhaps Froch’s best , and only chance that he has to win. He won’t be able to outland the faster Taylor or match him in a war of jabs, so one would hope that Froch has the intelligence to turn the fight into a brawl as soon as he can.
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