Froch vs. Abraham: How can Carl keep from getting knocked out?

By Boxing News - 09/11/2010 - Comments

Image: Froch vs. Abraham: How can Carl keep from getting knocked out?By Scott Gilfoid: Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KO’s) is about to enter the Lion’s den when he gets in the ring with Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KO’s) on October 2nd in their Super Six tournament fight at the Chapiteau de Fontvieille, Principauté de Monaco. A big portion of the tickets for the fight have already been scooped up by Abraham’s German and Armenian fans and Froch’s great idea for the fight to take place in a neutral venue is about to leap up and bite him on his backside when he likely finds himself with scarcely any crowd support.

Whatever the case, it hardly matters though, because I see this fight ending in a knockout and it probably won’t matter what the judges do in this fight. Froch has got to find a way to escape the fight without getting knocked out. That’s the real test. It doesn’t matter if Froch loses the fight by a decision, which is very real possibility. I can’t see him winning a decision with all those screaming Abraham fans rooting the Armenian fighter on. So, winning a decision is pretty much not going to happen for Froch.

He’s either going to knock Abraham out or he’s going to get knocked himself. Knocking Abraham out probably be a reality for Froch, because Abraham fights a lot like Joshua Clottey, using a high guard at all times and blocking almost all incoming shots aimed for his head. Abraham is susceptible to getting hit in the body, but he’s not going to get stopped on a body punch. That’s just not going to happen.

As such, Froch has basically very little chance of scoring a knockout in this fight and I’ve already established that he won’t be winning a decision against Abraham. So what it comes down to is whether Froch gets knocked out or beaten by a decision. I’m still not quite sure how Froch will lose. I suspect if Froch comes out gunning trying to fight the way he did against Jerman Taylor, Jean Pascal and Andre Dirrell, he’ll get knocked out in six to eight rounds. Froch was wide open for every shot from those fighters.

He won all three of those fights, but got hit so hard and so many times. Froch may have gotten away with getting clobbered by those guys for 12 rounds, but he can’t fight like that against Abraham because he hits too hard. If Froch fights aggressively against Abraham, then Froch won’t have a head by the six or eighth round because Abraham will disconnect it from Carl’s shoulders and drive it into the audience.

However, if Froch fights timidly, looking to survive, then I can see him making it the full 12 round without being destroyed by Abraham. Froch will have to fight the way he did in his recent loss to Mikkel Kessler if he wants to ensure that he’s not knocked out. That should be pretty easy. All he has to do is take a quick look at his loss to Kessler and then basically ape what he did in that fight.



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