By Scott Gilfoid: Former super middleweight champion Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch believes he’d have beaten the version of Canelo Alvarez that dethroned WBO 175-lb champion Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
The former IBF/WBA/WBC 168-lb champion Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) says the Canelo that defeated Kovalev reminds him of Arthur Abraham, who he easily defeated by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision eleven years ago in November 2010 in Showtime’s Super Six tournament.
Abraham was a crude slugger, who would load up on single shots and put everything into them, which is kind of how Canelo fights at this point in his career.
Canelo no longer throws combinations and is a one punch at a time type of fighter in the mold of Abraham. It’s fair to say that Canelo has devolved into an Abraham-esque type of one punch at a time slugger, but that’s probably out of necessity.
Froch says he’d have beaten Canelo
“When I watched Canelo fight Kovalev, I just wasn’t impressed,” said Froch on Fighting. “I thought it was close, but I thought he [Canelo] was losing.
“At that weight [175], he’s slower. He reminded me of Arthur Abraham when I fought Abraham [in November 2010]. I just kept him long with a jab, met him with combinations, and absolutely hammered him for 12 rounds.
“It was a flawless victory. I feel I’d have been able to do that to Canelo when he fought Kovalev [in 2019], that version of Canelo,” said Froch.
At 31, Canelo no longer has the gas tank to throw a lot of punches without gassing out and fighting on fumes. The way Canelo fights now, Froch would have been a nightmare for him.
Consequently, Canelo conserves his energy by throwing very few punches, and making them count by loading up with every ounce of strength in his body. Froch believes that style of fighting was made to order for him, and he might be right. It is very much like how Abraham used to fight.
Froch believes that he would have hammered Canelo with combinations if he’d been in there with him in 2019 while still at top form.
In a strange move, Froch cut short his pro career in retiring in his prime at age 37 after his second victory over George Groves. What a waste.
Rather than staying around to fight Andre Ward in a rematch or to take on Gennadiy Golovkin, Froch abruptly quit while in the zenith of his career.
Now 44, it’s obviously too late for Froch to come back, and all he can do is talk about what could have been had he not given up the ship and retired.
Did Froch lose his nerve and not want to fight Ward again or tangle with GGG? You have to speculate. Why walk away when you all that dough you can scoop up against those two fighters? I’m just saying.
As for Gennadiy Golovkin, Froch throws in, “I’d have been too much for him.”
Golovkin looked terrible in dealing with the movement that Canelo used against him in their first fight, and Froch probably would have exposed GGG if he’d have fought him in his prime.
Gilfoid could see Froch beating both Canelo and GGG if he’d fought them when he was at his best.