By William Loyd: Former super middleweight champion Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch and boxing great Roy Jones Jr are reportedly in negotiations for an exhibition match pegged to take place in Nottingham.
Jones would be coming along for the ride if the fight is made, taking advantage of Froch’s popularity and ability to sell tickets in Nottingham.
With the many losses that Jones has suffered in the last decade of his career, he brings very little to the table in terms of popularity.
With Froch’s punching power, he could destroy Jones early if he unloads on him. Froch hasn’t aged and still looks like the fighter that demolished George Groves twice and Lucian Bute, other than some gray hair.
The two potential locations for the Froch vs. Jones fight in Nottingham:
- Motorpoint Arena
- City Ground
This will be the first fight back to Nottingham for Froch since he destroyed an overmatched Yusaf Mack in three rounds in November 2012.
Will Froch take it easy on Roy Jones Jr?
Froch (33-2, 24 KOs), now 43-years-old, will be seeing action for the first time in seven years since his eighth-round stoppage of George Groves in their rematch in March 2014 at Wembley Stadium in London.
Most boxing fans believe that Froch retired way too early in his career, as he was still fighting an elite level at 36. Froch’s punching power and chin made him such a great fighter, and he was still at the top of his game.
When Froch walked away from the sport, he had the chance to face a prime Gennadiy Golovkin, but the match didn’t get made. In hindsight, it was a lost opportunity for Froch because he would have had an excellent chance of winning.
Carl made a lot of money from his last two fights against Groves, and he’s been living comfortably since hanging up his gloves.
Recently, Froch angered the proud 52-year-old Roy Jones Jr when he pointed out that he looked “shot to bits,” you can argue is dead on correction on his part. Nevertheless, the comment perked up Jones, who is now daring Froch to prove that he’s shot by taking him on inside the ring in an exhibition.
“Show me. I don’t care, show me that I’m shot to bits,” said Roy Jones to iFL TV in reacting to Froch’s comment. “Wembley Stadium, live – 80, 100,000, I don’t care. Show me that I’m shot to bits. When you get right, come see me.”
Jones has already shown that he’s “shot to bits” without Froch needing to prove it. Roy’s knockout losses to these guys have already shown that he’s past it:
- Glen Johnson
- Antonio Tarver
- Enzo Maccarinelli
- Danny Green
- Denis Lebedev
Fans want to see a real fight
It’s believed that the Roy Jones Jr. vs. Carl Froch fight will have similar rules as Jones’ exhibition match last November against 54-year-old Mike Tyson on Triller pay-per-view.
That match looked like an easy spar in which neither fighter appeared to be throwing punches with mean intentions.
Although Tyson did land some nice body shots that appeared to have full power on them, it clearly looked like he took all the heat off his punches when he was targeting Roy’s head.
It’s a good thing because if Tyson had nailed Jones Jr with a headshot with his still lethal power, he might have knocked him cold.
If Froch is going to fight Jones, one will hope that the two throw meaningful punches and don’t dance around for eight rounds in a dull exhibition match.