Froch is defo number 1. Khan second at the moment but could overtake. Froch has had the tougher fights and deserves number one more than khan or cleverly
Do i really have to mention Ricky was comprehensively outclassed in 2 of those fights losing by TKO & KO ................. **** it still hurts to remember Hatton fighting those two :| And can you even begin to compare Castillo , Urango and Malignaggi to any of the above ???
Froch is at a different stage of his career and because of that well ahead p4p. Khan is probably top dog at LWW but is building up to his peak and defining fights. Froch started his run of defining fights with Pascal which will only continue as he is has a record and name other fighters will want on their resumes (thankfully now with the help of sky).
Froch has had a good run of opponents, but far from the the best. He needed a 12th KO to beat a washed up Taylor, lost to Dirrell, lost to Kessler, Abraham is not a super middleweight, and Johnson is a old man.
But collectively these were tougher fights than Froch 6 (two of Hatton's are ATG); And Froch also by the way didn't win all his either. In hindsight looking at what Mayweather has gone on to do after that fight, Hatton didn't do too badly:thumbsup
Hatton was blasted off the face of the earth by Pacquiao and IMO won 1 round against Floyd and was stopped decisively Castillo , Malignaggi and Urango wouldnt be fit to lace the boots of Froch's opponents bearing in mind timing , form and age Froch was beaten in a close fight at his home by a very capable 3 time world champion at that weight class , and that was after he had epic problems getting to Denmark because of the ash clould , which altered his cutting weight routine for the fight . They dont compare mate , they really dont
:yikes Taylor was retired by Froch effectively , for evidence of that see the Abraham fight , who is a 1 dimensional puncher nothing more , the Taylor that gave Froch nightmares would of took Abraham to the cleaners on that night :deal and did you forget Froch KO'd Taylor ??? Dirrell didnt do nearly enough to beat Froch and lost that fight , Kessler beat Carl IMO that cannot be questioned , but then he responded with 2 very solid performances against former world champions , one a career best performance . Against a fighter Dirrell jumped on the floor against and couldnt see out the 12 !!! Froch's run cannot be knocked , its just cant :deal
Hatton's run can't be knocked either. He won every round against a solid, unbeaten champion in Juan Urango, stunningly finished Castillo with the best body shot of all time, gave Mayweather more problems that his last 3 opponents combined, pummelled Lazcano, made the iron-chinned Malignaggi quit and the fight against Pacquiao was 1 round a piece before Hatton slipped and the fight was prematurely stopped. Kenny Bayliss didn't even count to 10 to let Ricky get up.
The last time I checked, championship fights were scheduled for 12 rounds..... and if a fighter is unfit to continue at any point the referee is duty bound to stop it. It wasn't as if Taylor outclassed him for 11 1/2 rounds before suddenly gassing and losing as a result of a lucky punch, is it? Froch SD12 Dirrell. Abraham..... meh. A seemingly murderous puncher at middleweight who was a pretty strong favourite before the fight and picked by numerous ESB'ers to win by stoppage. Froch wasted him. Johnson. Old - yes. Past his best - yes. But still clearly a durable opponent with a decent dig who provides a really good test for everybody.
I do hate to say it, as the guy is obviously a twat, but Dirrell should've got the decision against Froch undoubtedly IMO.
And there's plenty of fighters in history that have taken on a tougher 6 fighter run than Froch. It's extremely impressive but come on now let's not go overboard by calling it the best ever.
Not really. Clearly, Hatton faced the toughest challenges because he faced Mayweather and Pacquiao, but he was pretty much blown away. Juan Lazcano never won a title in any weight class. Urango only won vacant titles against Naofel Ben Rabah(which he immediately lost to Hatton) and then later attained a vacant belt in a fight against Herman Ngoudjo. Malignaggi won a belt once in a fight against 45-8 Lovermore N'Dou, N'Dou won that belt in a fight for a vacant title against...Naofel Ben Rabah. He defended the belt against Herman Ngoudjo and once again against Lovemore N'Dou prior to taking on Hatton. Obviously Castillo is the biggest name outside of the big 2 out of that grouping but he was a little past it by then. That's not to diss Hatton, he was levels above 4 of these guys and levels below Mayweather and Pacquiao and that bore out in the fights. Froch's last 6 fights don't have guys as difficult as Mayweather and Pacquiao, but he still went 5-1 in a stretch that featured all but 1 of his opponents winning a belt in some weight class. Some of his opponents have won multiples belts and some have defended those belts multiple times. The one opponent who has yet to win a belt is Andre Dirrell and I don't think it would shock anyone if Dirrell won a belt at some point.