BoxRec

He pretty much fought everybody in his era with big wins over young Pascal, Taylor, prime Dirrell, prime A.A, prime Kessler II, prime Bute and of course prime Groves in front of 80.000 people on Wembley arena. He lost two times against Kessler and Ward.

What is interesting is how easy Froch destroyed a prime-confident undefeated Bute compared with how difficult DeGale and Jack dealt with a washed-up Bute which tells us how great was the smw era back in the days of S6.

Froch vs Pascal https://youtu.be/UG5LAnu5Z6A

Froch vs Taylor https://youtu.be/9gYA7uItYJU

Froch vs Bute https://youtu.be/VZeoI0TyoIY

Froch vs Groves I&II https://youtu.be/6nYHWJve3Ec

Great, great fights from Cobra!

I grew up a Calzaghe fan so Froch used to irritate me greatly when he was at domestic level and calling out Joe every chance he got. It wasn't until the Pascal fight that I actually started to take Froch seriously tbh. Anyway he converted me and I became a fan. I really miss him and so does British boxing and boxing in general. Proper fighter

Probably got out at the right time. Good role model for any aspiring youngsters to look up to.

I do like Froch, I saw a few times when he was starting at Nottinghams Ice Rink (fcuk, am I that old).

I agree, the mans a warrior and a good role model BUT, he was just too slow to beat the best at SMW i.e. Calzaghe and prime RJJ.

I wouldn't say Froch was underrated.

He was always praised for his resume, his willingness to take on all-comers & the difficulty of the era in which he fought.

Everyone knows how good Carl Froch was.

Carl was only underrated until he started competing on Sky, which led to his sizeable fight purses. He was an overachiever that managed to defeat opponents that were naturally more talented than himself because of his deterimed mindset and his extreme fitness levels.

Enlightened-One wrote:Carl was only underrated until he started competing on Sky, which led to his sizeable fight purses. He was an overachiever that managed to defeat opponents that were naturally more talented than himself because of his deterimed mindset and his extreme fitness levels.

Froch did not beat a prime Kessler, nor a prime Abraham. He did not beat Dirrell at all.

Still a very good fighter.

Enlightened-One wrote:Carl was only underrated until he started competing on Sky, which led to his sizeable fight purses. He was an overachiever that managed to defeat opponents that were naturally more talented than himself because of his deterimed mindset and his extreme fitness levels.

Yup.

Froch loved to trade leather with his opponents.

He was in very few dull fights and although I think he is a tad egotistical has to be one of the finest fighters ever from the uk .

Froch gets credit for being a real man in an era of boys.
But to elevate him above his contemporaries is ridiculous.

He didn't hurt Taylor til the last minute of the 12th. In a fight he was clearly trailing.
Great moment. If I were rooting for him, I would have been hooked as fan. ADMITTED.
But, let's not lose perspective of boxing skill.

I will die believing that Andre Dirrell beat Froch 8-4. Clearly.
But he was fighting Dirrells when Bute was fighting Jesse Brinkleys.

Froch was the guy who officially exposed Abraham as non-elite,
as many of you have decided to strip this honor from Dirrell.

The Bute fight. EXCELLENT!

Froch was the man in the sense he fought everyone.
Today, you can't deny that adds to our RESPECT of a fighter.

HOF ... career-wise. Yeh.
But he's still another guy who got shut down by Ward.

Stuarty30 wrote:I grew up a Calzaghe fan so Froch used to irritate me greatly when he was at domestic level and calling out Joe every chance he got. It wasn't until the Pascal fight that I actually started to take Froch seriously tbh. Anyway he converted me and I became a fan. I really miss him and so does British boxing and boxing in general. Proper fighter

Probably got out at the right time. Good role model for any aspiring youngsters to look up to.

Yeah calzaghe would have demolished him but my opinion of Froch totally changed true warrior and tested himself against the best can't fcault him for that.

Very good fighter, but I don't think that Kessler, having struggled with injuries and in his final and 49th fight, was still prime.

I think he could look so crude and slow that at times there was a habit of underrating him, especially when he was fairly new on the world scene, but I agree with those who suggest that he now gets plenty of credit.

Kessler still was in a good shape when he 2nd fight Froch.

I don't think he was prime. He was coming back from a serious injury and looked ragged in being dropped (for the first time?) by Green a few bouts prior. I also think his balance looked much worse in the rematch than it did in the first encounter, and I don't believe that just was due to Froch improving.

apollo creed wrote:Kessler still was in a good shape when he 2nd fight Froch.

You could also argue Froch wasn't prime Kessler 2

Enlightened-One wrote:Carl was only underrated until he started competing on Sky, which led to his sizeable fight purses. He was an overachiever that managed to defeat opponents that were naturally more talented than himself because of his deterimed mindset and his extreme fitness levels.

There's a lot of parallels with Danny Garcia I think.

Rexob wrote:

Stuarty30 wrote:I grew up a Calzaghe fan so Froch used to irritate me greatly when he was at domestic level and calling out Joe every chance he got. It wasn't until the Pascal fight that I actually started to take Froch seriously tbh. Anyway he converted me and I became a fan. I really miss him and so does British boxing and boxing in general. Proper fighter

Probably got out at the right time. Good role model for any aspiring youngsters to look up to.

Yeah calzaghe would have demolished him but my opinion of Froch totally changed true warrior and tested himself against the best can't fcault him for that.

I don't think Calzaghe would have demolished him. He would have beaten him on points but that's it imo.

lefty wrote:

Rexob wrote:

Stuarty30 wrote:I grew up a Calzaghe fan so Froch used to irritate me greatly when he was at domestic level and calling out Joe every chance he got. It wasn't until the Pascal fight that I actually started to take Froch seriously tbh. Anyway he converted me and I became a fan. I really miss him and so does British boxing and boxing in general. Proper fighter

Probably got out at the right time. Good role model for any aspiring youngsters to look up to.

Yeah calzaghe would have demolished him but my opinion of Froch totally changed true warrior and tested himself against the best can't fcault him for that.

I don't think Calzaghe would have demolished him. He would have beaten him on points but that's it imo.

With Frochs unbelievable chin Calzaghe would have teed off Off Fochs head all night aka the lacy fight an entertaining demolition points win.

Froch was brilliant in many ways: incredibly tough and fit, relentless, and impossible to intimidate. He was also far smarter than he got credit for: he would routinely land big shots on fighters who were much quicker and slicker than he, because he could keep his cool in difficult situations and perfectly time and place big shots. He knew when to stand off (Abraham) and when to press forward (Bute); he knew when to fight more simply (Taylor from round 6 on, Groves) and when to step up his punch variety (Kessler II).

Of course, he was not without his flaws; very slow for a top-level fighter (honestly, Dirrell should have been awarded a clear points win, and Ward looked like he had all day to react to most of what Froch threw) and prone to bouts of overconfidence (which got him badly punished against Groves and very nearly earned him a loss against Taylor).

What makes him special in my view was just how hard he was willing to test himself and how well he was able to play to his strengths and adapt to his flaws. It would, of course, have been nice if he was a perfect fighter, and I cannot see him ever neutralising Calzaghe's handspeed, reflexes and instinctive defensive skills. But the record he compiled, in a very good division, with all his flaws on display, without cherry-picking his opposition, and still beating almost everyone he faced, is a phenomenal achievement.

^^ good post

Well... he narrowly beat a pre-prime, weight-drained Pascal. He almost lost to Taylor but got really lucky at the very end. He robbed Dirrell. He did lose to Kessler in their first fight.

So... Froch is a good fighter. It's impressive that he was in as many battles as he was in without getting prematurely ruined, so he is obviously made of tough stuff. He is also ballsy for involving himself in as many tough fights as he has. But he didn't show himself to be head and shoulders better than the other world class fighters of his division, he just outlasted them. Froch seemed to be possibly an inferior boxer to Kessler, Dirrell, Taylor, and Ward; but better than Bute, Groves, Abraham, and pre-prime Pascal. So that makes him about 50/50 against any given world class fighter. Taylor and Kessler were obviously both permanently damaged by their battles with Froch. Dirrell was obviously damaged by being fouled by Abraham. Few SMW's have had the opportunity to participate in as many world class match-ups as Froch has.

dookus wrote:Froch was brilliant in many ways: incredibly tough and fit, relentless, and impossible to intimidate. He was also far smarter than he got credit for: he would routinely land big shots on fighters who were much quicker and slicker than he, because he could keep his cool in difficult situations and perfectly time and place big shots. He knew when to stand off (Abraham) and when to press forward (Bute); he knew when to fight more simply (Taylor from round 6 on, Groves) and when to step up his punch variety (Kessler II).

Of course, he was not without his flaws; very slow for a top-level fighter (honestly, Dirrell should have been awarded a clear points win, and Ward looked like he had all day to react to most of what Froch threw) and prone to bouts of overconfidence (which got him badly punished against Groves and very nearly earned him a loss against Taylor).

What makes him special in my view was just how hard he was willing to test himself and how well he was able to play to his strengths and adapt to his flaws. It would, of course, have been nice if he was a perfect fighter, and I cannot see him ever neutralising Calzaghe's handspeed, reflexes and instinctive defensive skills. But the record he compiled, in a very good division, with all his flaws on display, without cherry-picking his opposition, and still beating almost everyone he faced, is a phenomenal achievement.

Most respectable thing about Carl Froch is how someone with soo poor boxing skills made it that far. I always liked his fights. The way how he destroyed undefeated Abraham and Bute or that punishing of Jermain Taylor before home crowd is something to admire. Damn he brings 80 000 people to boxing match Maybe he done enough to Hall of fame one day