What Next for The Cobra

[Bennyblanco]

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

This^^^

A winnable fight against stieglitz at the 02, then try and get Ward over here for the rematch.

[Final round]

Have another crack at Ward in the U.K is the big one for me.
For Ward there is a big payday and the chance to underline his dominance in the division by doing the job twice, and it will give U.K fans the opportunity to see the bonafide 1st and 2nd in the world @ smw go at it live.

[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

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.

i'm not arguing with you, but boxrec doesn't see it that way

http://boxrec.com/title_search.php?titl ... &SUBMIT=Go

http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_ ... &cat=boxer

According to this, kessler had the WBA, but since froch won it's been upgraded, i may be wrong but thats how boxrec sees it

the WBA haven't even updated their site and still have kessler as the "normal" champ and ward as the superdooper champion

http://wbanews.com/artman/publish/campi ... ndex.shtml

[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.

i'm not arguing with you, but boxrec doesn't see it that way

http://boxrec.com/title_search.php?titl ... &SUBMIT=Go

http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_ ... &cat=boxer

According to this, kessler had the WBA, but since froch won it's been upgraded, i may be wrong but thats how boxrec sees it

the WBA haven't even updated their site and still have kessler as the "normal" champ and ward as the superdooper champion

http://wbanews.com/artman/publish/campi ... ndex.shtml

BoxRec is wrong. The only reason the WBA haven't updated it is because they only publish monthly rankings. They haven't stripped Ward since the last ones came out, so he remains WBA champ in any sane person's eyes. Froch's WBA belt is meaningless (like Povetkin's at heavyweight).

[ALI]

I just hope its not Hopkins. He'd loose IMO and would be made to look terrible in the process. Froch has built himself a great legacy, the last thing he needs now is a schooling from a near 50 year old man.

The fight on Saturday was great, i was gripped, but i've seen enough of Froch/Kessler now, not that interested in a rematch.

Unlike many others, i'd like him to go in with Ward again. Although he was well beaten in their first fight, i thought he did better than most of Wards other opponents and did not perform quite as poorly as most say. He'd be a big underdog but i'd like to see him take on this challenge.

If not Ward i think he should take a lesser name (an easy touch so to speak) and bide his time. 6 to 12 months is a long time in boxing, the horizon often changes quickly, who knows wbat options he might have available to him early next year.

[btahthezone]

Maybe a shot at Robert Stieglitz which in turn would put Groves number one contender. Maybe then Groves and finish his career off with a bang against Andre Ward at Wembley.

[andeeholden]

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.

My preference would be a crack at Stieglitz. He's no more risk than Groves but with the added reward of a belt, helping Froch further unify the division.

It's a tough one really. From a fan perspective, a third Kessler fight is never a bad thing, although everyone (myself included) would expect Froch to play out another hard fought points victory again, so from a Froch perspective, I don't really see the point in that fight.

The Ward fight shouldn't happen if Froch is looking to further his legacy. We all know Ward is all wrong for Carl and will outbox him for 12 rounds again.

I quite like the idea of Clev coming down to fight Froch; would draw a big live crowd in the UK, the whole Welsh & English world champions facing eachother aspect would do wonders for ticket sales.

B-Hop would be interesting, although I can't imagine it being much of a spectacle.

There's plenty of options though, looking forward to finding out who Carl chooses!

[Autobarn]

when debating what's next, some patience and foresight is needed.

ward is very highly rated, of course. he could just be wrong for froch. if froch can get him over here, and ward is penalised for holding, and has to change his strategy...it could be different.

froch has gone through some improvements. his opponents can also adjust to his improvements - as with kessler, mid fight in the rematch...froch would need a better gameplan vs ward - surely he has to do damage. last time, he wanted to use his reach/height and things didn't go so well.

anyway. who else is about? groves and degale on the scene, surely big over here. but who maybe shows hints of greatness - how about golovkin? a guy who's crowd-pleasing, destroys people, starting to show championship calibre - & more importantly has expressed a willingness to fight dangerous 168-pounders, having called out ward and been linked to fight oosthuin. just as ward might be froch's bogeyman, a smaller slugger in golovkin could be the perfect foil for the "cobra."

let's wait & see.

[macaca]

I think that Martínez would be a fool to move up and fight Froch, right now, Froch would beat Sergio by KO around round 9. Froch would cause him untold problems and Sergio has not the stamina these days to get on that bike for the amount of time it would take to play the fight how he wanted. I would love to see it though, for sure.

[josh fg]

I think the winner of the WBC fight would be the most glory for the least risk for Froch, would be good for him to have the WBC belt and it's winnable. I think he could get an easy one in sooner - Sept/Oct then a big fight early next year. I find it odd no one has mentioned Bellew.

Ward will be hard to beat, I think he could beat Hopkins but could do with a fight to acclimatise to the weight, but given his weight he has the attributes. A Pascal 2 wouldn't be a bad fight in my mind to do that. In my head my rout would be:

Bika
Pascal
Hopkins
Bellew - a name no one has mentioned?
Dawson - or whoever else is a big name at LHW

Retore build houses and spend time with wife and kids!

[dammage7]

I think the winner of the WBC fight would be the most glory for the least risk for Froch, would be good for him to have the WBC belt and it's winnable. I think he could get an easy one in sooner - Sept/Oct then a big fight early next year. I find it odd no one has mentioned Bellew.

Ward will be hard to beat, I think he could beat Hopkins but could do with a fight to acclimatise to the weight, but given his weight he has the attributes. A Pascal 2 wouldn't be a bad fight in my mind to do that. In my head my rout would be:

Bika
Pascal
Hopkins
Bellew - a name no one has mentioned?
Dawson - or whoever else is a big name at LHW

Retore build houses and spend time with wife and kids!

problem with wbc belt is, they only allow you to keep thier belt others, not both,

dawson and bellew out the picture. dswson werent come down again, bellew too big.

seriously, watching eddie hearns last interview i really see froch kessler 3 next

[Final round]

Kessler said if he loses against Froch he will retire.
No amount of £££ will roll back the years Mikkel

[ILikeBeer]

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

Yes, because Froch is known as somebody who ducks quality fighters.

[stujones]

I would like him to fight one of the "next generation" as opposed to a rematch with Kessler or unification with Steiglitz.... neither of whom are bad options, but I would prefer younger fighters get a shot at the title.... part of what cemented Joe and Lennox's legacy was when they started beating twenty somethings, who were deemed the next big thing in the media.

If Stevenson wasn't fighting Dawson I would say him, but alternatievely Oousthauzen (spelling) or Groves.

Naturally Ward would be my number 1 choice and I still think there are serious unfinished business with Dirrell...loads of options.

Since becoming champ I think Froch has fought 2 twenty somethings..... and most people thought he lost both times.

[danconnollyeire]

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

Another reason he doesn't want Ward nest is because they want it in a stadium, which means waiting a year til the weathers nice

[ILikeBeer]

Another reason he doesn't want Ward nest is because they want it in a stadium, which means waiting a year til the weathers nice

And even that's no guarantee in this country.

[danconnollyeire]

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

This^^^

A winnable fight against stieglitz at the 02, then try and get Ward over here for the rematch.

In winning the WBA title, Froch vacated the IBF. It's impossible to unify a divison nowadays as the organisations make you vacate because they want the monopolu. Look at Alavarez being made to vacate vs Floyd

[Autobarn]

I think that Martínez would be a fool to move up and fight Froch, right now, Froch would beat Sergio by KO around round 9. Froch would cause him untold problems and Sergio has not the stamina these days to get on that bike for the amount of time it would take to play the fight how he wanted. I would love to see it though, for sure.

agreed, sergio is having problems with oversized middleweights and suffers injuries, especially when he has to lunge and reach for his opponents.

i want to see what golovkin can do, hopefully vs someone like quillin in a big, offensive-themed fight and if successful gun for super middleweights like froch.

[Autobarn]

froch and ward are definitely both being active in the press - good news.

even better if froch can get the fight in the UK.

but i don't like froch's recent comments: i.e. beat ward and retire as 1 of the best, p4p.

that's fantasy wish-fulfilment. like haye wanting to beat wlad andf retire, etc, etc.

things don't happen the way you want. it's going to be hard getting ward over here, with a ref that won't let him head butt & hold. i hope froch can do it, but he could still end up with an honourable defeat. and if he does, he'll have more work to do to back his claims up of being a legend.

the special thing about froch is possible his ability to carry on making the weight, no matter how hard his fights are. maybe he can keep doing this 2 or 3 more years, and keep winning most fights. and if he does, the fights to make him wealthy, and great, are out there. golovkin - massive amateur pedigree and hugely exciting pro - for me looks special and willing to fight at 168. groves and degale could be huge, domestically. fights that could enhance him on international and domestic scenes! fights worth building and waiting for.

it's not like everything is just going to fall in place for froch. the world doesn't revolve around him. he needs to be brutally realistic and maybe a little patient. or did round 11 vs kessler really take something out of him? maybe an easy title defense, next, a bit of a rest and some perspective is necessary...