gobbles wrote:Autobarn wrote:Carl has gained something, a WBC title, a terrestrial TV audience. So let's be sensible, it's not like he has to start giving weight away, and giving location away, for everything. Some of you are acting like he has zero. If Calzaghe is the example, let's remind everyone - defend WBO title 8 years, then take the big fights when the other champs come over. Yeah, great yardstick! We should pine for the good ol' days.
Froch is a marketable guy. It's a bit daft, this "Froch brings nothing" nonsense. This, "the only reason they want to fight him, is because his chin is open". If Nathan Cerleverly were holding a WBO title, the world would not give a fvck - no power, repetitive fights - and the likes of Arum, DiBella, Palle would only be interested for a piss easy title.
We are scared of change, IMO.
All this about when Froch steps up, he will get destroyed - is this why most British fighters don't step up, then, because they're pretty sure their nice little earner will end? If Froch believes in his abilitities, and doesn't swerve the big fights, then things can be very good.
I certainly don't think he brings nothing, neither do I think he will be destroyed. But I don't think he brings enough to make Calzaghe carry on and, having been saying he would beat Calzaghe since he was fighting eight-rounders, I think it's a bit rich him complaining that Calzaghe has been rude to him.
To say Froch has been "sternly matched" is not backed up by the facts. He won a Commonwealth title nearly five years ago but never challenged for the European title and prior to being made WBC No 1, the only ranked fighters he faced were Porras and Magee, neither of whom were in the top ten.
There is no real comparison to Haye, who beat ranked opponents in Kelly, Gurov, Rossitto and Frogomeni and then went abroad to beat a reigning double world champion.
The Calzaghe fight certainly is unrealistic as Froch is really the successor to the throne and we don't get many of those heir apparent fights anymore and Joe would only fight on for obscene amounts of money. I believe he must be wishing RJJ won maybe 4 of 12 rds to justify a rematch. Even then, the PPV #s were disappointing, not big enough to justify the kind of money they were on, again.
I was never a Froch fan until the Magee, Dodson and Tatevosyan bouts. Before that I did find him uninteresting, unappealing & messy to watch. The Sky shows seemed to be too slick and impersonal (compare with Gabriel Clarke's excellent feature on Froch in Ireland and Froch's studio work on ITV) and Froch seemed to be sulking at Sky because Watt and McCrory criticised him.
Since then the matches have been quite good, he's been willing to step it up but his momentum has been killed time after time, by injury to himself or opponents (how long did it take to make Magee and Dodson fights, for instance) and more recently, the pullouts of Denis Inkin. How weird that Joe would vacated his title only a week before Inkin, fitting perfectly into the plans of Universum.
Yes, Haye did choose the right opponents to get him ready for the top - particularly Gurov & Frago (both of whom could be deemed world class). I think that excellent bout with Pascal and the WBC belt has thankfully, at last, moved Froch upward.
I dont think anyone's claiming Carl's going to be one of the greats, but he can bring the terrestiral audience back to UK boxing, with real fights, and if he can get a Taylor or a Pavlik, and win, then he's had a successful & entertaining career.
), then he has to retire IMO as there aren't any more deserving than those 2 IMO, but in saying that Calzaghe has had a tendency to avoid meanigful fights and deserving fighters, so I expect them to dig Glen Johnson up for JC's finale.
