By Scott Gilfoid: I really like WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch as a fighter. He kind of reminds me of a throwback fighter from the 1940s. That said, I find it hard to see Froch getting out of the first round of the Super Six group I bouts starting on October 17th. Froch, 32, has three tough opponents starting with Andre Dirrell, then Mikkel Kessler and ending with Arthur Abraham to round out the first part of the competition.
If Froch can do well enough in those fights, he’ll qualify to make it into the group II competition. However, I think Froch is going to have his hands full just getting through the first group stage. Froch isn’t blessed with speed or boxing skills like Dirrell, Kessler and Abraham and will have to try and will himself to victory if he’s to have any chance in the first part of the competition.
Froch had his foot to the floor in getting the most out of his limited boxing skills against Jermain Taylor on April 25th, a bout in which Froch had to get up off the deck and come from behind to score a knockout victory with only 14 seconds to go in the fight. Taylor made a huge mistake in opting to slug with Froch in the 12th, instead of nursing his substantial lead and running out the clock on Froch.
Taylor paid the price by getting hurt with a big right hand by Froch and pummeled for most of the round, getting dropped and taking a ton of punishment on the ropes eventually causing the bout to be stopped. I have to admit that was one of the most exciting bouts I’ve seen before. But, that was a case of Froch beating a fighter who has a history of stamina problems and who made the mistake of trading punches with Froch in the 12th.
Froch won’t likely get lucky like that against the likes of Dirrell, Kessler and Abraham. Those three fighters don’t have problems with their stamina and have excellent chins. This means that if Froch wants to win, he’s going to have to count on defeating them by decision rather than knocking them out, because I can’t see him hurting any of them. That’s where the problem lies. Froch doesn’t have the speed or ability that his first opponent, Dirrell possesses, so Froch is going to have to hope that he can somehow wear Dirrell down in the later rounds of the fight.
Dirrell hasn’t been deep in his fights beyond the 10th round. Dirrell had problems against Curtis Stevens early in the fight due to Steven’s power shots and pressure. However, Dirrell pulled away in the later rounds and won a dull decision with a lot of movement. Though Dirrell won the fight, he took a lot of heat for the victory because of his reluctance to trade shots with Stevens.
Dirrell learned a lesson from the fight and has been much more offensively oriented in his subsequent fights, stopping his last six opponents since then. That’s not good news for Froch because Dirrell appears to be getting better as a fighter. I can’t see Froch dealing with Dirrell’s speed and movement. I think Froch will struggle and end up losing by a sizable decision.
After Dirrell, it doesn’t get any easier for Froch because he’ll be matched up against Kessler, the fighter that many boxing experts are picking to win the tournament. Froch had been itching for a fight against Kessler for some time to try and prove himself against the Danish fighter. However, Froch doesn’t have the speed or the ability of Kessler and will be over his head in this fight.
Kessler isn’t the type of fighter that Froch will be able to walk down because Kessler has great lateral movement and will give Froch a lot of problems with different angles. I give Froch no chance at beating Kessler, so Froch might as well accept that right off the bat. He’s not in Kessler’s league and never will be. This is going to be a slaughter of the highest order. I imagine that Joe Calzaghe will be sitting back somewhere enjoying watching Froch struggle against Kessler, since Calzaghe previously beat Kessler and has bad blood with Froch.
Abraham, 29, presents Froch’s best – only – chance to salvage a win in the group I portion of the tourney. Abraham is making a move up in weight from the middleweight division and will be cutting his teeth for the first time against super middleweights in this tourney. However, Abraham has been fighting at around 180 as middleweight, so he won’t be undersized in this fight. He will, though, have to get used to be hit harder because Froch hit’s a little harder than most of Abraham’s opponents.
But then again, Abraham has been in there against an even harder puncher than Froch in Edison Miranda, so this shouldn’t be a big deal for Abraham. I see Froch having big problems in this fight. Abraham is a smart fighter and knows how to win rounds with powerful combinations at key points in the round. I doubt that Froch will be able to get the better of Abraham when they exchange shots, because Abraham is awkward and hard to time.
Look for Abraham to win this one by either a knockout or a 12 round decision. Although Froch has shown to have a good chin in the past, but by the time he fights Abraham, Froch will have been softened up by grueling bouts against Dirrell and Kessler and probably won’t be able to take too much more punishment against a big puncher like Abraham.
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