The first thing I noticed was how much slower Froch was back then, he really looked slow in the first few rounds, and was pushing his shots, these days he's got quicker, snappier punches which I can see landing with regularity. Secondly, froch seemed to start slow, and let kessler control the early pace, and was backing off a lot, letting kessler pump out the jab. In his last couple of fights he'sstarted more urgently , and I think he needs to do that I the rematch, push kessler back early, and do damage. Kessler had his best success with bodyshots, and seems to have improvedin tthat area, so froch needs to be careful there, and look to get his own in too. How do you see this fight going, compared to the first?
Something that hasn't been mentioned much, is the weight. Comparing Kessler at the weigh in for Magee and Froch 1, he looks a lot drier, he was ripped for the Froch fight, but noticably less so for Magee, of course the opponent was lesser, but Kessler is mid 30's and a big, heavy set dude, who has always had faint questions about his suitability to 168. He did go up to 175 for the green fight where he was also floored. It might be just seeing what I want to see, but I'm not sure Kessler has got another 12 round war left in him, I could see him folding late, maybe even a corner stoppage around round 9, if Froch brings his A game and forces the fight.
Yes I think the Ward-Kessler fight showed that Kessler's loss to Calz seemed to have taken a lot out of him with regard to belief. I know Ward got away with a disgraceful level of billy goating in that fight but Kessler was far too easily bullied. Then against Froch my memories of the fight were that Kessler was lucky Froch's work rate was low and that Froch didn't follow through on any attacks. Haven't seen the fight since that night but my lasting impression was that Froch was carrying the distinctly heavier hands but just sat back after landing anything significant and got outworked. Fairplay to Kessler for that but unless he has had a rejuvenation of late, surely Froch won't be so reticent in front of his home crowd. Whatever though, Kessler still carries that lightning right hand and Froch still tends to plough in like a caveman so should be good again.
Watching the Magee fight, I was surprised that Kessler looked pretty quick. I know Froch has been working on his speed but it may not be enough. What won Kessler the 1st fight was that he just seemed to do more in 80% of the exchanges, landing the more eye catching shots. If Froch boxes rather than goes to war, he has a decent chance.
Technical decision I reckon, Kesslers face will let him down before the halfway stage, so a fast start and getting some rounds in the bag could pay off for for Froch?
Kessler will end this froch hype. Froch is definatley no3 where as calzaghe was no1 during his 'reign'
Froch was throwing the more eye catching rabbit punches & hitting & holding punches. I really wanna see the video where manfredo stopped froch just to see what happend.
Froch started slow. When I watched him against Johnson, you could not be criticised for thinking in the first few rounds he would lose. Froch has upped his training even more which he claims he is still breaking his best numbers AND Froch has clearly started faster against Bute and Mack which is vital. Kessler is in fact the more talented fighter - agility, speed, co-ordination etc is in his favour BUT Kessler hasn't evolved since he started. A little bit he started to hook/uppercut and go to the body more but that is not evolution for an elite fighter. Froch on the other hand seems to get in better shape every single time and this has affected his speed and power over the course of a fight which has in turn made him a much more potent fighter. Early Froch seemed to rely alot on durability and mental/physical toughness. The first fight was made more competative by Kesslers warrior mentality and lack of intelligence. Kessler made it harder than it had to be. Frochs last two fights have focused on his major weak points. Close, competative but Froch definitely didn't win the first fight.
I think it is going to be an excellent fight Both fighters are both going to come forward and not want to take a step back however i think it may be better for froth to start very quick but attack very sensibly in short bursts of 5-6 punches then get out before kessler has time to set his feet and let fly. I am going to be brave and back froch and say froch on points, thats my heart anyway, In reality i can't see it going the difference, yes kessler will never ever quit on back out but same time i can froth battling on, very interesting to see what happens on the night
We were discussing this in the club earlier. Kess clearly has had probs with the weight and it looked as though he might move up. Then in the Magee fight he looked strong again. My mate reckons Froch could possibly make middle or at least has a smaller build for a super and I can kind of see his point. I think getting the weight,diet etc is more important to Kess than Froch .If Kessler gets it right he wins for me. If he is struggling its a great chance for Carl. It would not be a huge surprise if Kessler pulled out with an"injury" due to weight problems but lets hope not!