BoxRec

Benn was a beast at MW. At SMW, he had experience, good power, great stamina and decent boxing ability. Froch is a big lump of a SMW but not that mobile and I can certainly see Benn, closing the distance and beginning to nail Carl with big hooks and crosses. Though his power was dimished at SMW, I can see him pounding out a close, UD.

If we are talking prime for Benn being his MW days, 88-90/91 then whoa, you got one ferocious fighter there. Froch is tough, very tough. Speed and power wins, though, for me, and Benn, in his prime, had both.

Christ almighty, what a fight this would be.

If you were to match them up in terms of their abilities:

Power - Benn, just
Stamina - Even (both have tremendous workrates)
Defence - Even (both get landed on at some point)
Offensive skills - Froch, just (has a wider range of tools)
Speed - Benn
Chin - Froch
Heart - Even

In the end it comes down to a) whether Benn's power is enough to dent Froch at supermiddleweight, which isn't a certainty, b) whether Benn's speed is enough to overcome Froch's clever awkwardness and c) whether Froch would be able to land enough on Benn given his excellent head movement, recuperative powers and ability to discourage opponents with his power

I would pick Froch by a close decision - I think his run at world level proves that being at a speed disadvantage is not something that overly bothers him unless combined with a strength and skills disadvantage. Compare the Bute and Ward fights; Bute was faster and hit harder than Froch and still got utterly dismantled because he doesn't have Froch's cleverness or toughness. Ward, on the other hand, was clever enough to nullify Froch's best work.
Benn, however, would have an excellent chance. He would certainly land hard shots on Froch and even when hurt was dangerous; his excellent head movement would make it tough for Froch to land on him in the early going. But I can see Froch simply being too tough and awkward for Benn over the course of 12 rounds.

jessi wrote:

Coco wrote:Benn would be too fast and clever

Clever ?

See the Wharton fight, people like to remember Benn as an in your face tear up merchant but he also had sublime skills.

For sure, Coco. Benn could box very well, when he had to. Very underrated in that department.