Froch makes too many mistakes to get anywhere with a boxer like Taylor. Froch sticks his chin up in the air. Froch doesn't work behind the jab. Froch throws aimless, wild punches. Froch dangles his arms down. Froch doesn't have the reflexes to slip shots. Froch lunges in with his chin when he throws punches. Froch's hand-speed is very average. Froch is very static, leans forward and leaves himself off balance. You get the picture. As far as I'm concerned, he's not going to touch Taylor. Taylor will be able to find him easily and have loads of space for counter-punching effectively. Froch just makes too many mistakes to be able to outbox Taylor. His style is almost like Roy Jones, but without any skill. People seem to regard JT as "damaged goods" after the Pavlik fight, and think that anyone can just walk him down and take him out. Obviously, he's got motivational issues and probably will never be the same, but suggesting that if Pavlik can do it, anyone can is just plain ignorant. Froch doesn't have the jab or punching ability Pavlik has, and without that he's just not going to succeed. To set Taylor up for shots you need either great handpseed or a good jab, and Froch has neither. Taylor is a slick fighter with lots of speed, decent reflexes and tactical awareness; unless he comes in like a corpse, I can't see him getting beaten. Frankly, Froch just isn't a great boxer. He's never fought anyone with any real credentials, apart from Jean Pascal who is still far from world-class. He's a sloppy boxer with no defence and a wide gob, and JT's going to shut it for him in a lopsided UD on Saturday night.
how often do you see a paper euro champion who hasn't made any waves in the US and with no significant names on his resume be given an opportunity to fight a higher profile and respected fighter with a solid resume that he earnt the hard way? i agree in part that taylor has taken this fight as a stepping stone from his pavlik losses, but the truth is that froch is in the right place at the right time.
Froch is the beltholder, Jermain Taylor is ranked #1 and has been for some time but chose to take on Jeff Lacy initially. What is difficult to understand here? I mean who do you suppose Taylor fights at 168 that is well marketed to the US?
You obviously did not watch the end of round 5 vs. Pascal then because he would have been TKO'd if it was not the end of the round imo.
Taylor hasn't KO'd anyone in 5 years and that was a lower tiered guy at 160. I'd be shocked if he KO'd Froch.
like i said....PAPER belt holder (tell me what's difficult to understand about that...). holding a paper belt and having someone else ranked underneath you is a moot point for established fighters. taylor chose to take the fight - he didn't have to - and there's not a damn thing 'the champ' could have done about it. froch would have been the loser if taylor didn't fight him because how else would froch get a fight of that high a profile without making some serious moves? but on the last point i'm agreeing with you. kessler is an option for the same reason froch is but my bet is taylor sees froch as a softer option.
here's the double standard in an argument like this though.... taylor's been fighting much more respected and proven fighters than froch has (easily), and although it's worrying that he couldn't KO spinks, the difference between KO'ing b-grade fighters and taking on guys like pavlik, hopkins and spinks should speak for itself. if you want to say taylor hasn't KO'd anyone in 5 years you have to also say froch hasn't fought anyone.....ever...
None of what you are saying is of any relevance because there are NO established fighters in America at this weight, except for Jermain, unfortunately for him. So in that respect Froch is only lucky in the sense Taylor fought him rather than one of the other unproven fighters, which is not really luck at all because of how the rankings worked out, and the fact Froch actually called him out numerous times to honour his mandatory position whereas nobody else is particularly bothered. Carl Froch offers him no better or worse than any other of the main players. Probably more, at least he brings a belt, even a paper one. I suppose if he wins its no longer a "paper" title but a real title :nut
In some ways, each is an ideal opponent for the other. Taylor for Froch, because Taylor tires late and doesn't have a world class defense, and Froch has power. Froch for Taylor, because Froch is crude and slow and lumbering and Taylor has speed, good combination punching and can work angles. I"ve got Taylor 9-3, but Carl could always prove me wrong with a late-fight bomb that ends it.
I think the difference maker here is that once JT went back to Ozell, he started to address his recurring stamina issues. The guy who punched himself out in Round 2 of the Pavlik fight, and the one who threw crisp punches and kept his hands up all night against Lacy are two different fighters. Taylor on points with speed and experience.....
bigger name and higher profile fighters bring respect. if karl offers no better or worse than the main players then why isn't he one? and why isn't kessler one. the reason is that euro fighters who play musical chairs with paper belts aren't taken seriously and they have to get lucky to have a higher profile fighter who brings in more money, has more fans, can do more PPV and isn't obscure in the states. you know all this because i've explained it all before but you're choosing to ignore the sweet truth as usual.
Who are the main players at super middleweight? You are telling me a theory which I perfectly understand, I'm telling you the reality of what is actually happening out there in the real world. There is very little difference in the marketability to the US between Carl Froch (at least do him the respect of spelling his name correctly), Lucian Bute, Mikkel Kessler, Karoly Balzsay or anybody else you care to mention in the division. So, no, for me Froch is not lucky. He just happens to be the one that holds the belt that Taylor is #1 ranked for, and he happened to be the one that tried to get the fight for himself ahead of any of the other unrecogniseable faces, which is great work by him.
it is great work that he got the fight and to his credit that he's taking it. i wasn't basing my points on the SMW division - remember calzaghe ruled SMW for years but no-one came knocking on his door ala-taylor except lacy really. taylor doesn't need to campaign here but i'm sure he sees an opening that he can use as leverage to get fights with guys like pavlik in the future if he can, say, beat froch and kessler, then return to the states with something else to sell apart from his reputation.
Why oh Why oh Why, Taylor...for the last time never came knocking at anyone's door. Froch called him out and called him out and then ridiculed him for taking the fight with Lacy as an eliminator for the title he could have had a straight shot at by fighting Froch.