By Jason Kim: World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KO’s) has an elective defense of his title coming up and instead of taking on one of the easier contenders in the WBC, which is pretty much what all champions do unfortunately, the 31-year-old Froch is shooting for a unification bout against the inactive WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KO’s) next.

Froch, who hardly looked impressive in his last fight, a come from behind 12th round knockout win over Jermain Taylor in April, is looking to hit the jackpot by going after Kessler. Of all the super middleweights in the division, Kessler is currently perceived to be the best of the bunch.

However, due to inactivity (Kessler hasn’t fought since October 2008) there’s questions from some boxing experts whether Kessler may have slipped a notch with the up and coming super middleweights Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward possibly overtaking Kessler.

Froch has nobody scheduled for his next fight, but would like to get back in the ring by September or October. If Kessler is agreeable to a unification match with Froch, which is a big if, then this is a fight that would make sense for Froch, because the fight would be a big sell in the UK and possibly might interest U.S. cable networks like HBO or Showtime. Froch, despite his mostly mediocre competition on his resume, feels confident – perhaps a little too much – that he’ll be able to beat the 30-year-old Kessler.

Kessler was previously beaten by former WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe by a 12-round unanimous decision in November 2007. Kessler has looked good since that fight beating Dimitri Sartison to capture the vacant WBA title and then Danilo Haussler in October 2008.

However, Kessler has been unable to lure any of the big name fighters like Bernard Hopkins into fighting him. While Froch is still far from being a big-named star, he’s probably the closest thing that Kessler can get at this point in time.

Based on how Froch looked against Taylor last time out, I would be hard pressed to see Froch winning even a round of the action against Kessler. Froch looked horrible against Taylor and was getting badly out-boxed for half of the fight. It was only after Taylor faded in the 2nd half of the bout, a problem that Taylor often has in his fights, that Froch was able to come on and start taking control over the fight.

Kessler, however, doesn’t have a problem with his stamina and is able to box well for a full 12 rounds without showing signs of wearing down. On paper, I see this fight as a replay of Kessler vs. Lucian Andrade, a pressure fighter with a style much like that of Froch. Kessler easily defeated Andrade by a lopsided 12-round decision in March 2007. Andrade failed to win even a round in the fight.

Froch, who is even slower than Andrade, will probably have the same kinds of problems against Kessler. This is why it seems odd that Froch is choosing Kessler to go after. Froch seems to be overestimating his own talent and might be in for a rude awakening.

Strategically, this might be a better fight for Froch because he’ll get a bigger payday against Kessler than he will against a lower ranked fighter. And when you look at the fact that Froch will have to defend his title against his number #1 contender Ward after fighting his elective defense – and will probably lose to Ward – it seems like a better option to face Kessler now. Froch won’t likely get as much money fighting Ward than he would against Kessler.