Carl Froch v Mikkel Kessler - Tale of the Tape

[exittored]

Anyone know what time Kessler vs Froch is due to start in the UK?

[jamesmcdonnell]

I think Kessler wins this, he is the technically better boxer, and carl lacks the movement to keep him guessing.

I think Kessler will dominate with the jab and bust Carl up down the stretch for a pretty emphatic win.

[black panther]

I think Kessler wins this, he is the technically better boxer, and carl lacks the movement to keep him guessing.

I think Kessler will dominate with the jab and bust Carl up down the stretch for a pretty emphatic win.

I think the jab is the key. If Froch can take Kessler's jab away and get his own going, he's a got a very good shot. Months ago I was of the same opinion that Kessler was all wrong for Froch. But I just have a gut feeling that the awkwardness of Froch may prove difficult for the very conventional Kessler. One thing that does worry me though is that Kessler handled Mundine very easily. I am yet to see the fight but the scorecards(in Australia) were very wide and Mundine at supermiddle was a very good and awkward customer.

[Autobarn]

froch gets little credit for his jab. he used it to snap pascal's head back, when they weren't slugging like maniacs. and he used an awkward fencing style vs dirrell, which saw him land some decent jabs (though dirrell, in his negative tactics, was usually too far away for the jab to snap his head back).

froch v kessler will be the best super 6 fight so far. froch v abraham should be even better.

[stujones]

Froch is overrated due to his lack of defense and how easy he is to hit, this ultimately will be his downfall as his punch resistance, his main asset, starts to diminsh. You can't keep on taking big shots the way he does, especially not at world level as it will eventually lead to a KO loss. Be it this fight or his next it will happen soon enough.

Good shout, and I have to add.... down vs Taylor, hurt badly against Dirrell. Neither are considered massive punchers - you have to wonder if his chin isn't a good as it was, or not looking as strong at the top level.

I think Kessler is the biggest puncher he is faced and thats why I am going for a Kessler stoppage.

[stujones]

Yeah I think your Mystic Meg like prediction of Froch finding it more difficult as he fights better fighters is kind of how it always works out.

I think Tonyevs was discussing his chin. Is it as good as we have been praising it to be? He shown he can be hurt.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Froch is very resilient, he can be hurt, but he has an innate toughness that means that to finish him off you would need to land a serious barrage of punches in a row.

I don't see Kessler stopping him unless he gets on top earlier, but I think Kessler has all the tools to win this handily. Froch is not hard to find, and against top class opponents, he's not a quick starter.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Froch is overrated due to his lack of defense and how easy he is to hit, this ultimately will be his downfall as his punch resistance, his main asset, starts to diminsh. You can't keep on taking big shots the way he does, especially not at world level as it will eventually lead to a KO loss. Be it this fight or his next it will happen soon enough.

Good shout, and I have to add.... down vs Taylor, hurt badly against Dirrell. Neither are considered massive punchers - you have to wonder if his chin isn't a good as it was, or not looking as strong at the top level.

I think Kessler is the biggest puncher he is faced and thats why I am going for a Kessler stoppage.

Direll deffo hurt him, but seriously, not really. I think Froch is tough enough to go the distance, but a stoppage wouldn't really surprise me.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I'd say Carl is easily 6 foot 1, I've stood next to him and I'm 6 2.5 exactly, and he was only a whisker under my eye level.

Carl has a massive reach advantage considering how similar the other stats are, 78 is huge for a guy his height, for someone 6 foot dead 72 is normal - it's normally the same as your height.

Carl's reach varies a lot depending where you read it. I can believe he has a very long reach compared to his height tho because just looking at him he appears to have long arms.

reach can be misleading too, as some fighters are very broad shouldered, but their arms aren't that long, Carl has extremely long arms, they come down way past his upper thigh.

[jameswilson]

Yeah I think your Mystic Meg like prediction of Froch finding it more difficult as he fights better fighters is kind of how it always works out.

I think Tonyevs was discussing his chin. Is it as good as we have been praising it to be? He shown he can be hurt.

I don't wanna be reading any poo pooing if Froch does win. You picked Taylor to beat Froch and now your making out like he doesn't hit hard.

[Hagler2002]

CARL FROCH Q&A

http://tinyurl.com/29gmj4o


Carl Froch defends his WBC super-middleweight title against former world champion Mikkel Kessler in the Danish star's backyard on Saturday as part of the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament.

Sportinglife.com managed to catch up with 'The Cobra' during his busy training schedule and ask the burning questions our users wanted him to answer. Here's what Nottingham's finest had to say.

What's your prediction for your next fight against Kessler? And have you any sort of game plan (not giving too much away) to handle him? Matt Fowler

Carl Froch: The prediction is a win for The Cobra! The game plan, as always, will be to win and I'll do whatever it takes to do that. I'll take a stoppage or a win on points, I don't really care as long as I end the night still a world champion. If I can get a KO then that's great. You always want an early night if possible - you don't get paid overtime.

Is it fair to say Kessler will be the best fighter you have faced in your career? Stuart Irving

CF: Jean Pascal and Jermain Taylor are both top fighters so I think it would be unfair to say Kessler is the best, although he will be a very tough opponent.

Are you concerned how many times you can keep going to the well against tough opposition? Ivor McNamara

CF: No concerns at all. I've beaten three top fighters in consecutive fights and that is the only way I want to be remembered as a champion. I want to be a genuine star who is prepared to meet the best when they are at their best.

You often carry your hands low in a fight, while Kessler works behind an excellent defence with quick and powerful jabs. What will your tactics be for this fight and will you be making any adjustments to your style to combat Kessler's strengths? Michael Whitfield

CF: He'll be trying to take the title off me, so it's my job to make sure he doesn't. I'm expecting him to bring his A-game and be quite ferocious. But I'll do what I have to do to win. If that means outboxing and sticking my jab in his face, I will do. If it means standing in front of him and going toe to toe in a real battle, as everyone knows I can, I will.

Do you think you can stop Kessler from constantly coming at you and are you going to look to dominate the fight and you push him on the back foot? Tony Jury

CF: I don't think he will look to come forward all the time ... and if he does then I'll just keep throwing right hands to stop him! Ideally, I want a fight, I don't want to get hit. I want to keep low and use my boxing skills. I believe he will look to box but I'm not too worried about what he might or might not do. I watched his last fight against Andre Ward, but I'm not one to study fighters, it's just something I've never done. I prefer just getting in the ring and letting the fight take care of itself.

You're going into this fight as the champion plus you hold an unbeaten record. However, you are viewed by many bookmakers as the underdog. Do you think that this shows that you are not given the credit you deserve? Royce Chan

CF: I do think I get the credit I deserve, but I think the bookies are wary that the fight is in Denmark and Kessler could be favoured. It's often the case in places like Germany where the home fighter has to be knocked out for him not to get a decision. But I'm the WBC super-middleweight champion and I'm confident the WBC will ensure everything is fair. It's an honourable title and an honourable governing body and I don't go into any fight expecting to have to knock someone out.

Are you disappointed that the major TV networks have not taken the chance to show your fights recently? The last few fights (bar Dirrell) have been amazing and shown what a great fighter you are. Do you wish more of the British public could of seen these fights? Daniel Mundroina

CF: It is disappointing because I'm a world champion with an unbeaten record. I think I have a style that appeals to boxing fans and, obviously, I'm a big puncher. I'd love to headline one of Sky Box Office's pay-per-view events - maybe it's something to do with the economy, I don't know. But fair play to Primetime who are showing this one on Saturday.

Do you think you winning the Super Six tournament could tempt Joe Calzaghe out of retirement? Ryan Maddison

CF: I don't think that fight will ever happen now, especially as Calzaghe's lifestyle was recently exposed. He's 38 now and when I win the Super Six tournament it'll be another 18 months or two years down the line and by then it will be too late for him. I really don't care if he does come out of retirement or not. I've got money in the bank that secures the future for my family and myself so I'm happy with how things are. It would have been a fight the fans would have loved to have seen and I think if you want to consider yourself as the best you have to fight the best. He had a spell when he was number one in the world and I put myself in line to take him on. I wanted the challenge and he didn't, end of story. He'll be the one that regrets it, not me.

Do you have any role models in boxing - and who are your favourite boxers? Shane Austin

CF: I don't have any role models, but my favourite boxer was Roy Jones when he was at his peak. I also liked Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard - that was a great era for the sport when they were all around together. But Jones was my favourite as I think he was the most skilful.

Which of the past British and Irish world super-middleweight champions do you think would of given you most problems and why? Joanne Bath

CF: Steve Collins was a rough, crude brawler and Nigel Benn was a fighter who came at you so I think I'd have been happy enough dealing with that, so I'd probably say Chris Eubank as he did things that were a little bit unorthodox. Having said that, Collins beat them both twice in his career so who knows?

Out of the current crop of young British super-middleweights, such as James DeGale, George Groves, Tony Jeffries and Paul Smith, who do you think is the best? Michael Burrowes

CF: I would say George Groves because he's tall, has a good range and is a big puncher. They are the attributes to have ... but they are all a long way behind the Cobra!

Have you any idea when you will be fighting in the UK again because this time I would like to get over from Northern Ireland to watch you? Terry

CF: Well, I think I might have some good news for you Terry as I'm hoping my fight against Arthur Abraham will be at the City Ground in late August. We were looking at having it at the Nottingham Arena but don't think it is big enough. I'm praying it will be at the City Ground as I'm a huge Nottingham Forest fan and it would be amazing to fight there.

[stujones]

Yeah I think your Mystic Meg like prediction of Froch finding it more difficult as he fights better fighters is kind of how it always works out.

I think Tonyevs was discussing his chin. Is it as good as we have been praising it to be? He shown he can be hurt.

I don't wanna be reading any poo pooing if Froch does win. You picked Taylor to beat Froch and now your making out like he doesn't hit hard.

I think I tipped a Taylor points win (Cannot remember). I just don't think Froch has been in enough world level fights to categorise him as a Wayne McCullough esque chin yet. He aint a Haye or a Khan for sure, but in his 3 world level fights - he's been KD's and hurt in 2 of them and backed up (not saying hurt) against Pascal. Its very early yet in his world championship reign and he's got balls the size of grapefruits by fighting the very best so early in it..... loads and loads of credit there. At the moment, and its very very early, I am seeing some parrells with Paul Ingle's championship career - at European level Paul walked through everything, at world level Paul would get hurt.

Naturally, I aint going to say he is weaked chinned, but he can be hit and hurt. I think it is a little over hyped - if you've seen Primetime's advert for the fight you will understand my point there. "Can Froch and his iron chin"!

Taylor has scored a grand total of 0 KO's since moving up to world class himself. Hurting only Pavlik and Froch. Yes, in his list of world class he's fought some of the hardest chinned fighters out there (Wright, Hopkins, Lacy, Abraham) but no one can say he is a killer one punch KO artist at world level.

[Ted]

I'm normally close to the wire with SMW predictions but this one vexes me.

I can see kessler schooling froch, and winning a wide UD; BUT

Kessler no likea da upper cut, and thats the cobras signature punch.

Put £50 kessler points, and £30 froch ko.

You'll at least get your money back.

[tonyevs]

Yeah I think your Mystic Meg like prediction of Froch finding it more difficult as he fights better fighters is kind of how it always works out.

I think Tonyevs was discussing his chin. Is it as good as we have been praising it to be? He shown he can be hurt.

I don't wanna be reading any poo pooing if Froch does win. You picked Taylor to beat Froch and now your making out like he doesn't hit hard.

and was 14seconds from being correct...

[lefthook82]

So what you guys thinking in terms of betting

I like Kessler 15/2 to win from rounds 1-6 and also like evens for the fight not going the distance