By Nick Hagan: It was such a pleasure to watch Carl Froch (live) put on a master class against Kessler at the O2 in London on Saturday.
Froch is like a fine wine, who just improves with age and experience. Where most boxers at the age of 35 would be in the twilight of their careers and perhaps only considering one or two more fights, I could quite easily see Froch continuing for up to another 4 fights.
Froch now has an impressive record of 31 wins against big names, such as Kessler, Dirrell, Bute, Abraham and Taylor and with only two losses. However it’s Important to remember that Froch has never been stopped and his only losses were against Kessler (which could have easily been scored in Froch’s favour) and Ward who is currently, after Mayweather, the most gifted boxer in the world.
Froch is now the IBF and WBA champion and has earned the right to demand for i.e. Ward comes to the UK to fight. Froch is the exciting marquee fighter, who brings the heavy UK fan base and most importantly to promoters and sponsors the revenue. So it makes perfect sense for the fight to happen in the UK, perhaps Wembley Arena, where the ticket number gate could be maximized to around 80,000 fans. The timing of the actual fight could be split, in such a way as to maximize the PPV in both the UK and US.
Boxing fans are all too aware that home advantage plays a big part, on how a boxer performs. When Froch last fought Ward, It was In the US, so the natural advantage was with Ward. In the UK, this advantage would revert to Froch, but part of this advantage would be due to Froch’s Improvements within the ring.
I don’t see this fight happening until after Ward reclaims his WBC belt against what’s likely to be Sakio Bika. Ward also needs to make sure that he 100% fit before getting back in with Froch, for my reasons stated above.
I believe that Froch’s next opponent will be Chavez Jr. Their styles are absolutely made for each other. They enjoy a good tear up in the ring, are aggressive come forward boxers and have lots of World Championship fight experience between them. Chavez Jr, like Froch also brings a great fan base and money to the table.
If this fight happened, I see Froch winning purely down to his granite chin and his determination and motivation not to lose. This fight would not go the distance, due to their styles, so I see Froch winning by TKO.
I believe that Froch will want to finish his career, in the same fashion as he has so far conducted it and that is to not to duck anyone.
If Froch were to continue after Chavez and Ward he would probably have to move up to Light Heavy Weight and fight Hopkins and Cleverly the two big names in the division. This would be two more big pay days and two fights that I can see him winning, with Hopkins being the easier of the two.
However coming back to the title of my subject, firstly surely now Froch has climbed well into the top 10 P4P (in my opinion to about number 5) and if he were to beat Chavez, Ward and Hopkins, he would then catapult himself to the number 1 P4P position. He would warrant this position as his CV would include revenge against Ward (the current number 2 P4P) Kessler (a true warrior) Hopkins (a living legend of the ring) and Chavez the new kid on the block.
Froch deserves respect from every boxing fan. I feel sure he is going to continue to shine and will leave an outstanding legacy for himself, before retirement, within the next two to three years.
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