Carl Martin Froch vs. Jean-Thenistor Pascal - IB's standalone RBR scorecard

Sorry to be anal but it was ITV not sky and it’s Duke McKenzie doing color commentary.

Also Froch was in no way wildly popular in the UK then.He wasn’t known outside of boxing circles and only ever fought in 3 PPV events which were Kessler 2 and Groves fights.I think people outside of the UK overstate boxings popularity here.All sporting events are hugely popular,boxing is just one of them and is rarely mainstream.Froch at this stage was a nobody outside of boxing.

 

In this particular video the play by play guy clearly says "Jim" to his broadcast partner a bunch of times; watch & listen for yourself.

edit: wait, no, he did just say "Duke" in round 6.. wtf, I could swear he said Jim a few rounds earlier.

I guess you are right. That's eerie though, I'll have to rewind it later to see wtf happened there where it sounded like "Jim". Maybe he called him that by accident, then Duke was just too polite to correct him?

 

Round 6

Froch is jabbing the body and chin very sharply from outside. Pascal leaps in and chops with both hands but Froch is able to drop a level and scoot his way outside, just enough to make the distance uncomfortable for Pascal to cover, pulling away every time Pascal lunges and countering with pinpoint jabs. Pascal tries igniting a slobberknocker by throwing himself at Froch with superman punches, but Froch slaps at him with hooks, swings himself around on bent knee on the ball of each foot and resumes his position on the outside skewering Pascal with jabs as he flies in.

10-9 Froch

58-56 Froch

 

Duke McKenzie had the fifth level and gave Froch the sixth, and has the Brit up now 58-57.

 

Round 7

Froch is jabbing forward intently and then standing his ground and flurrying off the jab before Pascal can recover or rally. They once again settle into a mid-range groove and Froch snipes at Pascal with jabs off the hip. Pascal watching and posing a bit overmuch as he stalks and seeks an opening. Pascal runs in with an overhand right and is deflected and turned away by Froch with a matador turn and counter flurry. Pascal abandons headhunting and begins to corkscrew in some hard body jabs. Froch now steps in and lumps a couple of uppercuts into the jaw of Pascal, then ducks and swerves to his left to poke the body with the jab. Pascal getting hit at different coordinates every second. A looping right and stiff jab by Froch have Pascal holding.

10-9 Froch

68-65 Froch

 

Froch really at his best in the seventh, forcing Pascal to bend to his will and dominantly imposing his style and brand of generalship.

 

What on earth is color commentary??

this was a really good terrestrial fight in the uk. I remember watching it live and recording it via vhs

both fighters in there prime and taking each other’s hardest shots in the centre of the ring.

not long after this witter fought Bradley on itv but he was rubbish and retired in the late rounds I think

 

Round 8

Froch is making Pascal follow as he floats on his toes around the perimeter and cat's-paws with the jab. Pascal is approaching brazenly, gloves by his knees, popping his shoulders and twisting his upper body to slip Froch's jab on the way in. Pascal getting halfway there with his intelligent pressure but then not accomplishing much, not close enough yet to rip any high percentage bombs and yet getting caught by jabs and hooks from the crouching Froch. Pascal surges in the final half-minute and scores with body shots and clubbing blows high on the head. Pascal slips late while under fire, not a knockdown. Froch has a cut eye, from a downward-whistling asteroid of a Pascal left hook.

10-9 Froch, close

78-74 Froch

 

Usually someone who began not a television sports presenter by trade; often a famous ex-boxer or coach. In contrast with the "play by play" man who quite literally calls the shots and provides the straight-laced narratives (think Jim Lampley), the color man provides earthier pearls of wisdom gleaned from their experience inside the game, and is often given more latitude, ostensibly, to inject their subjective views.

Think like Emanuel Steward, or Jim Watt, etc.

 

Duke McKenzie had Pascal just squeaking round eight.

 

Round 9

Froch is getting jabbed in the face and battered with the right dropped from on high. Pascal trotting in unopposed with his arms down, Froch attempting to establish himself outside with that jab off the hip but not being given any space to get comfortable. Pascal with leaping hooks, misjudging the distance but forcing his opponent into sloppy counter flurries and clinches. Pascal grazes with uppercuts and overhands, while Froch sprays his own nip and tuck short punches and ties up again. Nice pair of straight rights by Froch, but Pascal ducks and comes up swinging and hurts Froch rather badly with an overhand right, although Froch recovers his legs almost instantaneously and resumes throwing hard. Pascal is hurt VERY badly from a rabbit punch while bending over in front of Froch. Pascal then rallies and lands a few power shots on the chin.

10-9 Pascal, very close

87-84 Froch

 

Barry McGuigan says "this has lived up to some of the best super middleweight fights I've seen".

He's got Froch up by 2 after nine.

Duke McKenzie has as well, 87-85, with the previous two (very close) rounds scored opposite from my card...eighth to Pascal and ninth to Froch.

 

Round 10

Froch is dialing in that ramrod lead right, bruising up the right eye of Pascal with it. The swelling is nearing the point where Pascal is fighting with almost monocled vision. Froch is content to wait outside and flip jabs up into the face or chest as Pascal charges in. Not much scoring for Pascal until he dives in with a desperate uppercut, and does land that solidly. Pascal tries another power-punching sortie but is pushed down and hit behind the head with Froch's free hand.

10-9 Froch

97-93 Froch

 

Round 11

Froch is jabbing but without much snap left on it. Pascal catching jabs on his mitts as he creeps in. Pascal bouncing in place, reining up short of where Froch's right hands can reach him. Pascal is awkwardly bursting in with hooks now, circling Froch like a vulture, not giving him much target for the brief times he is on the inside. Pascal with reckless daredevil leaps of faith inside, flinging power shots and then ducking and swooning away. Froch lashing at him untidily, mostly connecting with forearm rather than fists.

10-9 Pascal, very close & ugly

106-103 Froch

 

Round 12

Froch triple-jabs, climbing, scoring on Pascal's trachea, chin, and nose by turn. Pascal is leaning his weight in on his lead foot, arms dangling low, and pushing his jab into the face of Froch, who mirrors his stance almost exactly while doing the same. Froch is jabbing at the body and Pascal squeezes his elbows together over his chest to block. Froch with some jabs at the face but Pascal turns it away to make him miss while also backing up. Pascal darts in with a body jab and Froch steps away to dodge. Froch crashes into the guard with an overhand right and then pounces on Pascal when he takes a rest by the ropes. WILD shots from both men, a Pascal right hand just barely missing the point of Froch's chin. Froch landing more jabs, and then buries a left hook into the side of Pascal's mandible as they slash at each other from just a half-pace away. Froch with another left hook.

10-9 Froch

116-112 Froch