Carl Froch vs Mikkel Kessler 2?

Sweet EP · Mar 28, 2013

Can't see past Carl for this one, been wrong in the past!

elchivito · Mar 28, 2013

Froch is definitely winning. He's still hungry, smarter, and evolving as a fighter while at the sametime has more determination than most. Kessler looked really sloppy last time. If its close and people want another, **** it, then do a trilogy. We'll see. Froch UD12 Kessler

Sweet EP · Mar 28, 2013

o_money said: ↑

Froch should win this fight. I favor him because I think he is a better fighter then he was when he fought Kessler. I can't say the same for the Viking warrior.

Going back to the last fight there's a couple of things that I noticed. It took "The Cobra" a longtime to truly come out in the first fight. Froch started out by being cautious and boxing off the back foot. He didn't throw a lot of punches and was seldom the aggressor. He had decent success but didn't clearly distinguish himself from Kessler. By the starting of the mid rounds he was warming up and started counter punching Kessler well but then he got countered a couple of times and started getting hit to the body. In the late mid rounds he suffered what seemed to be a temporary lack of confidence and really let his punch out put and work rate drop. He did some good work but lost a lot of rounds by letting himself be clearly out worked. The last 3 to 4 rounds is when the real Carl froch started to emerge. He started pressuring Kessler hard and staying in the pocket to deliver hard counter shots. By the end of the fight he was counter punching extremely well and had hurt kessler in most of the final rounds.

The biggest problem with Carl's performance was that he did himself no favors with the judges by allowing himself to be out worked and out landed in most rounds, even in many of the rounds that he won. This has to change in the next fight.

I expect Froch to be able to make these changes. Here is why:

I strongly believe the kessler loss was the best thing to happen to Froch in his career to date. He's made a lot of improvements since and is a better fighter. He keeps his hands up a lot more and has added more defense and boxing to his game. He has also now added combination punching to is boxing as well.

There has always been two Carl Frochs'. The first, Carl Froch the boxer. This Carl Froch uses a stiff jab, range, timing and angles to control his opponent and score points while he studies them and sets them up for the other Carl Froch....the Cobra. The second Carl Froch, the Cobra, is the one that uses awkward slickness and a methodical, unrelenting pace to break down his opponents. When Carl Froch is fighting his this mode he likes to stay in close range and bait his opponents into throwing punches so that he can counter them with hard 1-2 combinations, usually Left hooks, uppercuts and straight right hands.

Before the Kessler fight Carl Froch mainly relied on the "Cobra" part of his game to break down his opponents and win fights. The boxing side of his was a tool to help him set up the power punching. Since the Kessler fight he's added better defense and combination punching to his boxing game. He can now win fights against top fighters without ever having to use the beast-mode-counter-punching elements of his game. In the first fight he couldn't box well enough to clearly distinguish himself from kessler in the first half of the fight; he couldn't control the pace of the fight well enough to conserve his energy and as a result lost the middle rounds; and it took him three quarters of the fight to get "The Cobra" into the fight.

With the improvements in Carl's boxing I think he has gained enough of an edge to now more clearly distinguish himself in the parts of the fight where the boxers are boxing. I also think that he'll be able to pace the fight better and do a more effective job at conserving his energy while wearing Kessler down. Finally, it won't take Carl so long to get the Cobra into the fight. And frankly when he can get that part of his game rolling the only super middle that can handle it is Andre Ward. The fight will still be close but I think Froch has edged forward just enough to swing the balance of the fight in his favor. My prediction in this fight is a late rounds TKO or a 3-4 round UD for Froch.
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hit the nail on the head here!!! I think Kessler deserves all the respect in the world, but with Froch's improvements and Kessler coming to the end (maybe) I think this fight goes to the Cobra, won't be easy though

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Carl Froch vs Mikkel Kessler 2?

Sweet EP Jab & Move Baby! Full Member

elchivito master betty Full Member

Sweet EP Jab & Move Baby! Full Member