IBF's offer to Froch.

Froch has a long standing knee injury, which resulted in him having eight months off.

Carl is an excellent prospect, but has been known to turn down an offer (Calzaghe) yet denies this, gets his promoter to make a ridiculous offer, which was in turn rejected, and then accuses Joe of ducking him.

I rate Froch highly and feel he is an intelligent, likeable guy, but after beating Inkin, don't go back to the domestic/european scene and **** about, get a title shot and ****ing win.

 

Froch and likable in the same sentance... ? Things change on here!

 

Hang on a second, mate! I never said Froch had no knee problem! It's common knowledge he had an operation! That was never doubtful.

What I questioned was whether Froch's knee problem was so serious that he couldn't fight Bute in the IBF eliminator, as he had the choice:

"Are you suggesting Froch dodged Bute because he had a knee problem?

Did he develop that knee problem after the Tatevosyan fight? If so, it means he didn't have it when he decided to fight Tatevosyan. So, in that case, why fight the man Bute beat instead of Bute himself, if you know you can KO the guy anyway? If he had done that, Froch would have gotten a shot at Berrio for the belt.

Or did he develop that knee problem before the Tatevosyan fight? If so, it means he fought Tatevosyan with a dodgy knee! But why would he have done that given that he fought Tatevosyan only four months after his previous fight? If he had developed a knee problem before the Tatevosyan fight, he would have seen to that and would have fought e.g. Tatevosyan later...it wasn't as if Tatevosyan was in a hurry, having been beaten up by Bute less than two months previously, or that Froch was getting stale due to inactivity; after all, he fought Tatevosyan as early as four months after his previous fight. See, Steve, that doesn't make sense one way or the other.

Now, I am not saying that Froch didn't have knee problems or that he didn't have the operation. He did. We all know that. What I am saying is that the knee problem wasn't so critical that it would have stopped Froch from fighting Bute instead of Tatevosyan. And supposing that it was, after all, so critical, instead of fighting Tatevosyan, Froch should have sorted out his knee and accepted to fight Bute after he recovered, in the eliminator. But he didn't think he was ready. And the dodgy knee is only an excuse for dodging Bute. So, not only did Froch dodge Bute, but he talked trash about how he'd KO him and Berrio too, whilst at the same time using a dodgy excuse for not fighting Bute in the first place. Not cricket, is it?"

And what I am saying is that his knee problem either wasn't time-critical, since he fought Tatevosyan, when he could have fought Bute.

Now, you say he might have decided to sort out his knee before stepping up against Bute. In other words, that he wasn't ready for Bute, but only due to his knee problem.

But in that case, why wouldn't he sort out his knee instead of fighting Tatevosyan in the first place, to fight Bute after his recovery, in the IBF eliminator?

Because he didn't know how his knee would recover after the surgery? Fair enough...could be!

So we are supposed to believe that he would easily KO Bute with a good (sorted) knee but with the kind of knee that allows him to KO Tatevosyan "in a way Bute never could", he wasn't good enough to step into the ring with Bute? Come on!

Froch was simply weary of fighting Bute because he thought he'd get beat. His knee problem MIGHT have played on his mind, but not enough for him to sort it out before fighting Tatevosyan.

So it seems silly to say: "Yeah, Bute is too good for me to risk it with this knee, even though it's no big deal, really; I can still beat guys like Tatevosyan, no problem", only to then brag to anyone who would listen how much better you are than Bute (and Kessler, and Joe) and how you'd KO Bute (and Berrio)...etc. Dontcha think?

 

Why this theatrical excuse? Because how can you claim your the best SMW in the world when you've dodged Bute, when you had the chance to fight him? You need to explain that somehow...unfortunately, Froch decided to "explain it" by talking **** about Bute and Bute's betters...Kessler and Calzaghe.

It would not have meant nearly a year of inactivity! Froch fought Reid less than 8 months after Tatevosyan. 8 months after his Dodson fight would have been July 2007...3 weeks after Bute fought Bika. 3 weeks is nothing and Bute v. Froch could have happened even if Froch had had the operation, if Froch was really desperate to prove himself!

Truth is, though, he wasn't. I'm glad he feels ready to take on Inkin now, who, despite his non-very good chin will be a very good challenge and will show us how good Froch is.

 

Didn't Joe make that offer before the Kessler fight was made, when Taylor and Hopkins were giving him the cold shoulder and it very much looked as if Joe would have to fight Bika level fighters for the rest of his career?

Joe has so many options now and is finally universally recognised for what he really is - one of the best fighters in the world...with two more fights to go, against legendary NAMES for big bucks, it's obvious the likes of Froch, Bute, etc., won't get a look-in...Joe has nothing left to prove at 168.

He is simply looking to tart-up his resume with some trophee wins against NAMES for big bucks...

:good

 

I expect it was a typical FW offer. You know like when someone calls Calzaghe out and Warren says "We sent an offer to ... and he turned it down". An offer that was not supposed to be accepted.

 

According to a boxing chat on boxrec, Croch was offered 250k with no options to fight Joe.

Joe would of done a Lacy job on Croch. Workrate, handspeed and timed skill will beat Croch.

 

The offer was made while Joe was looking for an opponent prior to the deal being done with Kessler.

Froch would have given him a tough time for a few rounds, but Joe would have come out on top. The fact is that big Mick doesn't like his star names fighting on other promoter's bills, understandable, but sad all the same.

Froch is always good copy when discussing anyone else other than Calzaghe, was funny on Soccer AM discussing Robin Reid, and is fairly respectful towards opponents etc, though not excessively.

 

I was a bit shocked and a little sickened to see the way he brushed Robin Reid off when he entered the ring, pushing into him as if he were getting rid of a dirt-bag. Very disrespectful, I thought.

 

I think that's all for effect - in the press conferences pre and post fight he was fairly respectful.

 

Yes, he was...he was saying how much it would mean to beat the man that Calzaghe had so much trouble with and how beating Reid would prove that he was one of the best in the world.

 

He complimented Reid on his achievements though - wasn't that respectful, but a damn sight more than what you sometimes see!

The Reid in the Calzaghe fight was different to the one in the Froch fight, even Carl would know that - he didn't need to beat Reid to prove he was one of the best....................

He needed to beat a top 5 168 contender in their prime.

He is one of the best, but time to leave the domestic scene and prove it to everyone!

 

:good

Inkin is a better opponent than Bika or Berrio, I think, if his chin holds up reasonably well. We'll see.:deal