By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) is saying really nice things about his opponent Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s), as Froch tries to drum up interest in his November 17th fight with the overmatched American at the Capital FM Arena, in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom.

Froch may need to completely change around his usual method of marketing his fights by smothering Mack with compliments rather than tearing him down like Froch sometimes does with his opponents.

Mack is going to need a heck of a lot of building up if the Froch-Mack fight is going to be successful on November 17th in terms of selling out the Nottingham Arena and bringing in big ratings on Sky. I don’t see how Froch and his promoter Eddie Hearn will be able to sell out the arena unless they give the tickets away on a first come first served basis.

This is a mismatch and it’s going to be real test on Froch’s popularity among his British fans to see if he can still sell out an arena even when facing a guy that was knocked out recently by Glen Johnson and Tavoris Cloud. I personally wouldn’t waste my time and money to go see this mismatch, even if the tickets were given to me. It’s not worth it because it’s a bad fight.

Froch told Sky Sports News “He’s going to be used to getting hit by bigger, stronger opponent…Yusaf Mack is a very big, strong guy. He’s a top, world-ranked opponent but his ranking is actually at light heavyweight, so he’s going to provide a different kind of test for me. I need to be picking decent sparring partners that are big and strong and can take my power.”

Mack is only ranked by one of the sanctioning bodies, the IBF at #6, and you really have to wonder what they saw in him to give him that ranking. Doesn’t getting knocked out twice in the last two years rule Mack out from being ranked in the top 15? It should. He hasn’t beaten anyone that I would consider good and I don’t understand how he could be given a high ranking like that.

I just hope Froch doesn’t overdo it in selling Mack as an opponent. I’d hate to see it get obvious to where Froch is slathering on the compliments too much and it working against him with the Brits figuring out that Froch is trying to sell the mismatch. It doesn’t take a genius to see that Mack doesn’t stand a chance in this fight, and unless you’re cool with watching mismatches, it’s a fight that I wouldn’t waste time paying to see it or staying up late to watch it.