By Scott Gilfoid: With his back injury keeping him out of action, former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KO’s) may not be able to fight Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KO’s) until early November, according to boxing news from Livefight.com. Froch, 34, is experiencing a lot of pain with his back injury, saying “It’s sore and knotted.” That doesn’t sound too good, especially with Froch facing the biggest puncher in the Super Six tournament in the hard hitting Abraham next. Hopefully, Froch’s back can heal enough to where he can fight without being handicapped. But with back injuries, they rarely heal quickly. This could be the beginning of an ongoing problem for Froch.

The worst fear for me is that Froch takes the fight with Abraham in early November, gets sparked out by him, and then starts complaining about how his back wasn’t 100% for the fight. I don’t want any excuses from Froch when/if Abraham knocks him out. Froch was beaten in his last bout in the Super Six tournament by Mikkel Kessler in April and Froch said the Iceland volcano disrupted his preparations for the fight.

Froch has to win this fight if he wants to make it to the finals of the Super Six tournament against either Andre Ward or Andre Dirrell. Both of those fighters would seem to be a nightmare for Froch, because of their super boxing skills, blazing fast hand speed and excellent defensive ability. Even if Froch can get by Abraham in November, which is a tough enough accomplishment as it is, he’s likely going to then be soundly beaten by Dirrell or Ward and sent home to Nottingham a loser. Dirrell already gave Froch fits in their Super Six tourney fight last year in October.

Froch won the fight by a controversial 12 round decision, but many people believe that Dirrell should have rightfully won the fight. Dirrell is now even more confident and a better fighter than he was back then. He knows how to beat Froch, after hurting him in the 10th round a couple of times and dominating the 11th and 12th as well. Froch could end up getting knocked out by Dirrell this time.

And Ward, he’s so fast and skilled on the inside. He would take Froch to war in close and likely batter him like he did Allan Green in his last fight in June. I can see Froch stuck with his delicate back stuck to the ropes taking punishment in close from Ward all fight long.