What Next for The Cobra

[Looking On]

It was said on the RBR thread that Froch is short of options unless he moves to light heavy and face the likes of Hopkins , Now i dont agree with that , He walks round at less than the Light heavy limit so he clearly doesnt need to move up in weight and Boxing Hopkins would probably be pretty Boring , and although id predict a froch win Hopkins could out hustle him and that would look bad for his Legacy ,

So my view on who his options are now , are listed below , assuming he wont be at light heavyweight thus Removing Hopkins , Cleverly , Dawson , Stevenson and Pascal (Unless any of them drop to 168 which we have seen all but Cleverly do in the past )

1 ) 3rd Bout with Mikkel Kessler

2 ) The rematch with Ward

3 ) George Groves

4 ) Robert Stieglitz to take his WBO title and further Unify the division .

5 ) The WBC title is vacant but if i remember rightly Sakio Bika is boxing Marco Antonio Periban for it on 22nd June, either of which shouldnt be a problem for Froch , although Sakio Bika vs Froch could be Fun .

6 ) Chavez Jnr Moving up in weight has been mentioned previously

7 ) Roberto Martinez is another one whos previously mentioned going up in weight to fight Froch , but ....A. i think froch is too big for him and B. Martinez is on his way downhill , maybe he would be interested in effectively cashing out vs Froch in what would be a pretty hyped up fight if it was to happen .

8 ) Any of the contenders just looking in - Andre Dirrell , Thomas Ousthuizen , Edwin Rodriguz and Karoly Balszay .

So he Clearly does have options at super middleweight .

[Spiker]

Saw it on HBO last night and Froch said he didn't want to fight Ward next unless he had too as ward isn't an exciting warrior like himself lol. I think everybody knows the real reason! Froch is good but Ward is another level entirely

[Looking On]

Saw it on HBO last night and Froch said he didn't want to fight Ward next unless he had too as ward isn't an exciting warrior like himself lol. I think everybody knows the real reason! Froch is good but Ward is another level entirely

If i was him i wouldnt want the ward fight either , not unless when ward comes back he looks like crap , but thats not froch , If they can manage to tempt him over here the fight will be made in my opinion , wouldnt even be surprised to see Froch back over in the states to get a crack .

On our sky broadcast It was Ward who was very dismissive ,saying the big fights are in america and thats where it should happen .

If it does happen ward should grow some balls and travel , Kessler and froch have both done so .

[The Insider]

Ward would beat Froch again quite easily, that's not saying Froch is that bad it's just that Wards style is all wrong for Carl. I'd love to see Froch and Groves and Eddie said it could be a possibility for the future. Can't see Froch moving up as he's just too small so Unless anyone decent is moving up I see him trying to take another belt.

[ShadrachSimmo]

It was said on the RBR thread that Froch is short of options unless he moves to light heavy and face the likes of Hopkins , Now i dont agree with that , He walks round at less than the Light heavy limit so he clearly doesnt need to move up in weight and Boxing Hopkins would probably be pretty Boring , and although id predict a froch win Hopkins could out hustle him and that would look bad for his Legacy ,

So my view on who his options are now , are listed below , assuming he wont be at light heavyweight thus Removing Hopkins , Cleverly , Dawson , Stevenson and Pascal (Unless any of them drop to 168 which we have seen all but Cleverly do in the past )

1 ) 3rd Bout with Mikkel Kessler

2 ) The rematch with Ward

3 ) George Groves

4 ) Robert Stieglitz to take his WBO title and further Unify the division .

5 ) The WBC title is vacant but if i remember rightly Sakio Bika is boxing Marco Antonio Periban for it on 22nd June, either of which shouldnt be a problem for Froch , although Sakio Bika vs Froch could be Fun .

6 ) Chavez Jnr Moving up in weight has been mentioned previously

7 ) Roberto Martinez is another one whos previously mentioned going up in weight to fight Froch , but ....A. i think froch is too big for him and B. Martinez is on his way downhill , maybe he would be interested in effectively cashing out vs Froch in what would be a pretty hyped up fight if it was to happen .

8 ) Any of the contenders just looking in - Andre Dirrell , Thomas Ousthuizen , Edwin Rodriguz and Karoly Balszay .

So he Clearly does have options at super middleweight .

I knew Wigan were struggling but don't think Martinez has to go after Froch

[Final round]

'Roberto Martinez is another one whos previously mentioned' has he left Wigan then?!

[Looking On]

Bugger off You knew who i meant --- Sergio Martinez

[ShadrachSimmo]

Bugger off You knew who i meant --- Sergio Martinez

We did mate, but couldn't resist

[btahthezone]

I think he should go and attempt to unify all 4 belts I think that's the way forward. Stieglitz or winner of WBC contest. I don't know if the casuals will be excited but I will be and proper boxing fans would like that. Especially after Stieglitz destroyed Abrahams really early. We could see Bika v Froch if Bika wins that would be an immense brawl.

If someone like JCC jr comes up that would be a cracking fight and very fan friendly along with fighters like Hopkins, Dawson, Martinez, Cleverley etc.

Groves will wait another year I think.

[Jack B]

Assuming Carl's next fight is in November, I think we can rule Ward out - he'll be coming back in September in the US.

Personally, I think Groves would be the best fight for him next. The young, hungry contender, good ticket seller, got the domestic angle to help sell it. Same promotional company so easy to make. Would sell out the O2 again and do good numbers on TV. Groves would give him a decent test as well!

Then (assuming he got through that), he deserves a stadium fight this time next year. Either a Ward rematch in the UK (City Ground or a London football stadium), or a third fight with Kessler to round off their trilogy - venue wherever they could make the most money. So realistically City Ground, Nottingham or Parken Stadium, Copenhagen.

[Final round]

[Rocky Balboa]

Hopkins has expressed his eagerness to fight Froch & has said he'd travel to the UK. Carl said it would need to be at a catch weight, so I say make it at 172/173lbs & it's on.

Froch got hit a great deal last night, so Bernard must fancy his chances.

[Final round]

I'm a fan of Groves but I think Froch would steam roller him in six. On different levels.

[Bennyblanco]

This isnt who i think he should fight next but whats happened to andre dirrell? Havent heard anything about him for a long time?

[kaiserbill]

I suspect there may be a Froch v Kessler III.

If I were Frochs management, I would be leery of fighting some of the younger up-and-coming fighters from your list before another with Kessler, in particular the ones who maintain a high workrate.

Not gospel, just a suspicion of mine.

He's turning 36 in just over a months time, and I felt there were indications of that very briefly at times last night.

[TheCobra]

Yep agree, Froch is 36 soon, lets say he might have another 2-3 fights in him at top level, well they have to be proper fights then.

Absolutely no point fighting a young up and comer like Groves, it means little outside of Britain and I'd assume they are wanting his fights to be getting wider exposure now. Still a possibility I suppose.

For me though it should be:

- Froch - Stieglitz - I like this, it's not a huge fight but if he can get another belt it further cements the legacy and I think he could take Stieglitz apart.

- Froch - Kessler III - Why not it wouldn't exactly be a hard sell and would be better to watch than most of the other options.

- Froch - Hopkins - It would be intriguing and would do good numbers. But might not be a great fight to watch and is very risky as Hopkins is wily.

- Froch - Ward - I don't like this, but can see Froch trying for it as the defeat will annoy him, but he aint avenging it so I don't see the point. Best leave Ward alone methinks.

I'd probably choose Stieglitz then Kessler III and then see where the land lies after that.

[kaiserbill]

TheCobra, that's pretty much how I see it.

A fight with Oosthuizen may prove very interesting, as he's quite unconventional.

Not sure if he's quite ready for Froch yet though. But a year or so down the line......I think people may be surprised by the result, possibly.

[black panther]

Yep agree, Froch is 36 soon, lets say he might have another 2-3 fights in him at top level, well they have to be proper fights then.

Absolutely no point fighting a young up and comer like Groves, it means little outside of Britain and I'd assume they are wanting his fights to be getting wider exposure now. Still a possibility I suppose.

For me though it should be:

- Froch - Stieglitz - I like this, it's not a huge fight but if he can get another belt it further cements the legacy and I think he could take Stieglitz apart.

- Froch - Kessler III - Why not it wouldn't exactly be a hard sell and would be better to watch than most of the other options.

- Froch - Hopkins - It would be intriguing and would do good numbers. But might not be a great
fight to watch and is very risky as Hopkins is wily

- Froch - Ward - I don't like this, but can see Froch trying for it as the defeat will annoy him, but he aint avenging it so I don't see the point. Best leave Ward alone methinks.

I'd probably choose Stieglitz then Kessler III and then see where
the land lies after that.

I would Kessler out the equation switch him with Chavez Jnr and switch Hopkins with Groves. I think stylistically that would be a great fight to watch. Also after the fight Kessler didn't seem too keen on a rubber match: I expect him to announce his retirement tbh. Regarding Hopkins, if I was managing Froch I'd keep him away from Hopkins unless the offer was very high. Legacy wise it's a lose-lose situation; beat him and you've beaten a past it 50 year old. But its also a fight Froch could very well lose. Meanwhile Groves would do good numbers in the UK and it would prove exciting. Groves just needs a top ten opponent on his ledger to make the fight "legit"

[kaiserbill]

Boxrec have:

1. Ward
2. Froch
3. Stieglitz
4. Oosthuizen
5. Kessler

Apart from Ward and Kessler, that then leaves Stieglitz and Oosthuizen.

http://boxrec.com/ratings.php?sex=M&div ... t&pageID=1

[davie]

Kessler in vegas for me
Everyone likes a trilogy, especially a trilogy of wars, it lives long in the boxing memory.
An opponent like that can define your career
I've just argued in the froch/calzaghe thread that a second win against kessler wouldn't be enough to take carls "legacy" beyond calzaghes.
So my next point is kind of arguing with my own point.
But a trilogy enhances your legacy and tipping the balance by winning the series overall with a second win will enhance his legacy.
The 3rd fight would be massive, due to the nature of the first 2 fights it would sell big both in europe and the US, particularly if it was fought there. so there is the financial benefit.

Fighting at a neutral venue would really settle it for me, with a home win each, the finale in the states would be the leveller and prove who is the victor.

For me froch wins the third, which is another decent reason to take this fight and if he does get the ward fight. a win against kessler in a huge trilogy finale in the states would be the perfect way to sell himself as a more worthy opponent against a guy that most, particularly in america, think is just too good for carl.

So i'd go for kessler again, then take the ward fight. if it proves a step too far at least he'll leave with no regrets

[davie]

Although, it would be interesting to see if carl could fight stieglitz for the wbo, then bika for the wba.

Then walk into a fight versus ward holding all 4 major titles and be an underdog against the widely regarded no1 in the division, some peoples p4p no1, who happens to hold no world titles

[Jack B]

Although, it would be interesting to see if carl could fight stieglitz for the wbo, then bika for the wba.

Then walk into a fight versus ward holding all 4 major titles and be an underdog against the widely regarded no1 in the division, some peoples p4p no1, who happens to hold no world titles

Ward is the WBA champ. Froch IBF. Froch's WBA belt is just a second-tier paper title (the same as Povetkin) and shouldn't be recognised.

Froch-Stieglitz - little interest and can't see either man travelling.
Froch-Bika - similar issues.

The whole concept of unifying the 4 titles has become even more impossible than it previously was - the WBC, relatively recently, announced that they were no longer recognising unification fights. So if a WBC champ fights another titleholder, he is forced to vacate one of the titles immediately afterwards.

The only way you could feasibly do it is by winning WBA, IBF and WBO belts first and then fighting the WBC champ last, briefly holding all 4 before vacating (at least) one title. Crazy world.

[forcefraser]

Don`t rule out Chunky Degale. Slowly making progress under the radar. there is some bad blood there as well.

I`d like to see a Degale v Groves rematch with the winner getting Froch at Christmas. In the meantime Froch can take a Calzaghe night of and fight someone like Manfredo Jr.

[Pat Butcher]

Quite a few options for Froch. I think a Groves fight would be good to watch and Sky would promote the hell out of it so would be a good earner. Froch should win that if in next 12 months, it would be sad to see Carl getting bashed up by Groves in a couple of years if he was to suddenly get too old. If he's gonna fight Groves, do it soon.

Bika - would be a poor fight to watch and I don't think Froch would look good in it either.

Stieglitz - why not. Haven't seen much of him but he's a belt holder and has beaten Abraham.

Kessler III - again why not, have a feeling Kessler would want a bit of a break first though.

Ward - I hope not as I can't see how Froch could beat him. I think this is quite likely though, I don't know why Ward wouldn't want to travel here, he can improve his profile while collecting belts and loadsa money.

Hopkins - I reckon this will is most likely. No idea who would win, wouldn't mind seeing it, would be good to go watch Bernard in the flesh.

Cleverly - doubt Froch will bother going up in weight and don't see why he should give that advantage away. I also think it's a very dangerous option for Froch at 175 and I get the feeling Froch doesn't wanna give Cleverly and Warren the publicityy and potential earnings.

[Autobarn]

as stated, there's loads of options.

i just hope he picks the right one.

defend the IBF? defend the WBA? domestic fight, i.e. groves or degale? rematch with kessler, or have another crack at ward, especially in the UK?

if they can get ward over here, that'll be the next fight.

my preference is, after a draining fight with kessler, he should take a high profile, not as daunting fight (groves or degale).

cross out anything to do with light heavyweight - froch does 168 easily and wants to be the best at 168.