By Simon Hirst: WBC Super Middleweight champion Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch has been lined up as an opponent for Middleweight Champion Kelly ‘The Ghost’ Pavlik. However, fans will have to wait until early 2010 for this exciting clash to happen as the rumoured agreement is on the provision that Pavlik comes through his next fight which is likely to be Felix Sturm in a title unification and that Carl Froch comes through his next fight, also likely to be a title unification bout with Lucien Bute.
Both men share the title of being the only men to knockout Jermain Taylor, seen to have similar style in that they are more known for their big punching power rather than their boxing skill. This will be a fight the fans want and a big improvement for Kelly Pavlik, who has been criticised for having easy fights and losing in his big fight against Bernard Hopkins since he won the title from Taylor. For Froch, it is another big name he craves as he looks to fight the biggest and best names in his division.
Although this is far from official, it did come from Bob Arum. He said: “That is absolutely true. Todd duBoef of Top Rank has discussed that fight and yesterday we met with HBO and talked about Pavlik fighting Felix Sturm in the fall; and then early as next year, perhaps as early as the end of January, fighting Froch.”
This will give Froch even more enthusiasm to beat Lucien Bute providing the fight happens. Bute is a very slick boxer, but has a vunerable chin as demonstrated by Librado Andrade when he should have claimed a last second 12th round KO of Bute, only for poor refereeing to give Bute 20 seconds to rise to his feet. Froch, however, will need to start faster than he did against Taylor as he allowed Taylor to win the first 6-7 rounds before settling down and winning the last few before KO’ing Taylor with 15 seconds to go to retain his WBC title.
On the other hand, Pavlik fights a decent Felix Sturm. We know Sturm has ability, fighting De La Hoya to a very close fight in which some feel he should have won. Sturm should give Pavlik a decent fight, he’s a lot better calibre than Pavlik’s recent outings minus Hopkins and has the ability to cause a nasty surprise. With that said, most would probably agree in saying Pavlik should come through this fight victorious.
I’m not going tempt fate although I’m sure those commenting on this will by giving my opinion on who will win a mouth-watering clash between Pavlik and Froch. I guess until the contracts are signed, I’ll hold my breathe hoping this happens. It will be a great fight for boxing if it does though!
Comments are closed.