By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF/WBA 168lb strap holder Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) has categorically ruled out a fight against Britain’s James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs) if he somehow gets past #2 IBF Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) in their fight this Saturday night for the vacant IBF super middleweight title on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC from the Agganis Arena, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Froch, 37, had recently said that he’d be possibly interested in facing the 29-year-old DeGale if he got past Dirrell, although he felt it would be a very, very tough task for DeGale to do so.
Well, it looks like Froch no longer wants any part of DeGale if that happens. But it really doesn’t matter because the odds are stacked against DeGale winning the fight so it’s not as if Froch would have much chance of a fight against DeGale happening. We’re talking slim odds in my view of DeGale winning. The thing is if Froch said he was willing to fight DeGale if he came out on top, boxing fans would wonder if Froch afraid to fight Dirrell if he’s the one that wins the fight. Fans would give Froch grief if he said he didn’t want to face Dirrell again considering the controversy surrounding their fight in 2009, which took place in Froch’s hometown of Nottingham, England.
“To be totally honest, the DeGale fight doesn’t do anything for me,” Froch said via Skysports.com. “I can’t get motivated to fight him. It’s not an exciting fight for me. That’s in no way disrespectful to DeGale because if he beats Dirrell – which is a tough task – he’s done well. Is it a fight that I fancy? Not really.”
I can totally understand why Froch wouldn’t be excited about fighting DeGale, because that wouldn’t be a big deal under any circumstances. It’s not an interesting fight, and certainly not a big enough fight to stage in Las Vegas, Nevada, a city that Froch had talked about wanting to finish his career in. But Froch is no longer keen on fighting in Vegas for some reason. He was in Vegas for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, and he wasn’t that impressed. He also wasn’t impressed with the small 16,000 seat arena at the MGM Grand, which is where the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight took place. Froch could obviously fight in bigger venues in the UK.
What I don’t understand is why Froch was so interested in fighting Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. That was a very, very confusing choice of an opponent for Froch, because Chavez Jr. was no longer relevant after his loss to Sergio Martinez in 2012, and his controversial win over middleweight journeyman Brian Vera in 2013. It’s as if Froch wasn’t keeping up on boxing and was picking someone that no longer was a big deal in America. The thing is Froch wanted to fight Chavez Jr. in the United States, and he thought it would have been a big deal there. It wouldn’t have. If Froch wanted to impress American fans, he would face Gennady Golovkin, who has become the popular guy in America. A rematch with Andre Ward would no longer be a big deal in the U.S because Ward has fought only two times since his win over Froch in 2011. That’s obviously not enough fights to keep Ward’s popularity up to where it needs to be.
“I’ll be flipping a coin to see if I am going to fight again,” Froch said about whether he’ll continue his career.
If Froch does resume his career, he’s very likely to be incredibly rusty, and he could have a built in excuse if things don’t go well for him. I mean, I don’t expect Froch to face anyone good if he goes continue fighting. If he’s talking about wanting to fight a guy of Chavez Jr’s caliber, that kind of tells you the level of fighter that Froch is looking for. It sounds to me like Froch is looking for an easy mark to pad his record with for an easy payday. Guys like Golovkin, Ward, Andre Dirrell and Sergey Kovalev wouldn’t be an easy night at the office for Froch. Heck, even the likes of Artur Beterbiev would be a really tough fight for Froch and I doubt he would beat him as well.
Froch has already been out of the ring for an entire 12 months since his last fight against George Groves. It’s been four years since Froch last fought a really good super middleweight in Ward. Since then, Froch had had mismatches against a past his best Lucian Bute, Mikkel Kessler, Yusaf Mack and two fights against Groves. Kessler looked shot and unmotivated when he fought Froch in 2013. Mack was just a tune-up opponent, and Groves was just an unproven domestic fighter. As such, Froch hasn’t fought anyone good in many years in my view, and I don’t expect him to break that trend if he does come back and resume his career.
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