By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF/WBA/WBC 168lb champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) says he would potentially be interested in making a comeback to fight IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale (21-1, 14 KOs) if he defeats 35-year-old former IBF champ Lucian Bute (32-2, 25 KOs) this month if he beats him on November 28th at the Centre Videotron, in Quebec City, Quebec.
Froch, 38, is reportedly back in training for whatever that means. A fight with DeGale could be a possibility for him. As it is a lot of boxing fans think Froch ducked DeGale last year when he vacated his IBF title rather than facing him.
It’s unclear why Froch thinks it would be a big deal if DeGale because Bute, because it’s not as if it’s not been done recently with Bute losing to Jean Pascal by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision last year. Froch wasn’t chomping at the bit to fight Pascal after that win, so it’s hard to understand why he would give a fig about DeGale if he beat a past his prime and some would say a shot Bute.
“It’s an easy job for me [to beat DeGale] and he’s a world champion,” Froch said about DeGale to the BBC.com. “Get my old belt back, show them all how it’s done and then retire.”
I don’t really see where the gain is in Froch fighting DeGale other than it being some kind of domestic thing. It’s not as if DeGale is a popular fighter in the UK. Heck, he’s fighting in the U.S and Canada now. What does that tell you?
If Froch comes back to fight DeGale, then he’s setting a low bar for himself and shortchanging himself out of tons of cash and attention from the boxing world. The boxing fans don’t really care about seeing a Froch-DeGale fight. DeGale isn’t seen as the best fighter in the 168lb division. Andre Ward still is the guy, and Badou Jack, the WBC champ, and WBO champ Arthur Abraham are seen as better fighters than DeGale by a lot of fans.
The fight that the boxing fans want to see is Froch fighting Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. That would be a huge fight in the UK, and Golovkin already said he’d take the fight without a catch-weight over in the UK. The question is why isn’t Froch talking up a comeback to fight Golokvin when it means more money and attention from the fans? Is it fear?
Does Froch feel that he’s not up to the job in facing Golovkin? I don’t know, but I think it’s very, very strange that Froch is potentially shortchanging himself by considering a comeback against an arguably lesser fighter for a smaller money fight against DeGale rather than taking a real challenge by fighting Golovkin in his comeback.
It wasn’t long ago when Froch sent out a Tweet, saying “Too big and too strong for GGG.” Well, if that’s how Froch really feels, then why isn’t he showing the fans that he wants that fight? If you look at the ratings that Golovkin brings in and the ratings that DeGale brings in, it’s painfully obvious that Golovkin is the fighter that more boxing fans are interested in seeing than a slapper like DeGale. So why isn’t Froch interested in facing Golovkin? Is he afraid of being knocked out or does he simply not feel that he’s up for the job?
“I always said once I’m retired, I won’t come back, but 18 months on from my last fight, I’m starting to think to myself ‘I’m fit, strong, in good shape,’” Froch said. “It’s a big if. The desire’s gone. It’s getting the desire back. It might be DeGale beating Bute.”
I think with Froch, he doesn’t seem to like the idea of DeGale doing something that he’s done in the past. I don’t see why it would bother him. DeGale recently beat Andre Dirrell by a 12 round decision without controversy.
Froch won a controversial decision over Dirrell six years ago in Dirrell’s prime of his career in a fight that a lot of boxing fans thought Dirrell won in Nottingham, UK. Why wasn’t Froch harping about that? The only thing I can think of is that Froch wants to somehow stay on top in the UK as the No.1 super middleweight. If he beats DeGale, he’d be able to stay at that spot temporarily. However, I don’t see what the big deal is for Froch.
If he wants to get more endorsements in the UK, or something like that, then I think he would be far better off facing Golovkin, because he’s very well respected. Of course, if Froch doesn’t fancy the job of fighting the Kazakhstan fighter, then I can totally understand why he would be looking for the safer target of fighting DeGale, because he’s arguably the much lesser threat than a dangerous puncher like Golovkin.
All you have to do is take a look at how badly DeGale struggled to beat a bloated looking Andre Dirrell last May and figure what would have happened to DeGale if he were in the ring with a knockout artist like Golovkin in that fight. DeGale totally disappeared from rounds 4 through 10 in that fight, as he was gassed and wilting under the pressure from Dirrell.
Now what would have happened to DeGale if he was sharing the ring with a big puncher like Golovkin on that night and dealing with unrelenting pressure for 12 rounds? I think it would have ended badly for DeGale with him getting knocked out. It doesn’t matter that DeGale would have had a 1 ½” height advantage over Golovkin and would have been perhaps 10 to 15 pounds heavier.
Golovkin would still be the bigger puncher by far and would have been all over DeGale, pounding him with power shots, and forcing him to run for the hills. I don’t think Froch wants any part of fighting Golovkin though, because why in the world would Froch be interested in making a comeback for the lesser money fight against DeGale rather than Golovkin?
That’s just a bone-headed business move in my view. HBO would be interested in televising Froch vs. Golovkin in the United States. I doubt that HBO would have any interest at all in a Froch vs. DeGale fight?
How do you air a fight like that when the casual boxing fans have no clue who Froch and DeGale are in the U.S? I know the hardcore boxing fans know those guys, but there aren’t enough of them to make a Froch-DeGale fight a success in the ratings in the U.S on HBO.
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