The man in the opposite corner will be the unbeaten Russian Dennis Inkin - a man who defeated Froch as an amateur but not before being heavily dropped in the closing stages of the bout.
Others may disagree but I have no doubt that Froch is of world-class pedigree. He has swept aside everyone they've put in font of him and hasn't seemed fazed by the gradual step up in class. If anything his recent performances hint at a much improved fighter than the one who was given all manner of problems by Charles Adamu back in 2004.
If he gets past Inkin, what next for the Nottingham born bruiser?
For the last 3 years he has developed a cold fascination with Joe Calzaghe, it is a contest that he is clearly confident of winning. Calzaghe however has an appointment with Bernard Hopkins in America which by his own admission could be the last fight of his career. So it seems like Froch will have to look elsewhere for title glory.
The only others belts available in the SM division are the IBF & WBA (regular) held by Lucian Bute & Anthony Mundine respectively.
As things stand, Froch's greatest hope lies with the former as he is ranked no 3 with the IBF, only Vitali Tsypko stands between him and a mandatory challenge.
Rather oddly, he isn't even included in the WBA's current top fifteen so barring the unlikely eventuallity that Mundine generously decides to make a voluntary defence against Froch, it's a title that for the foreseeable future is beyond his material grasp.
His options seem limited at the moment, which prompts me to throw out a few questions.
The first and most relevant question is; since Bute is the only champion remotely in striking distance (forgive the pun) I ask, is Carl Froch good enough to wrest the IBF crown away from him?
To be honest I don't know very much about Bute, the only common opponent he shares with Froch is Sergey Tatevosyan. Froch took care of business in two rounds but Bute had to make do with a unanimous decision. That isn't necessarily an accurate measuring stick of their comparative ability though. Tatevosyan's trainers hinted that the twelve torrid rounds spent with Bute effectively finished him as a competitive force.
A few more questions of a disposable nature.
Has Carl Froch left it a bit late for the superstardom he so obviously craves?
As promising as he is, an awful lot of his time seems to be spent on the sidelines recuperating from injury. Against Reid I thought that there were a few signs that his knee was still giving him trouble.
Carl Froch VS..........
Clinton Woods?
Joe Calzaghe?
Enzo Macarinelli?
Mikkel Kessler?
Chad Dawson?
Kelly Pavlik?
And finally a mirror match VS a doppleganger.
