Just how vulnerable will Froch be to Kessler's offense?

He won't be vulnerable at all. His quick footwork and slick head movement will neutralise entirely Kessler's offence.

 

Oh yes indeed, by factor 2 or 3 :smoke

 

If Kessler cannot land on Froch he cannot land on Oprah Winfreys bare arse and hence deserves to leave the tournament. Froch will be particularly vulnerable(KO) to Kessler's uppercut because of his loose guard. Most important for Froch is that he never leaves himself open to the kind of punch that took Beyer out. The latter is achieved by constant movement. Kessler needs a little "extra" time to land his most devastating punch. Both Ward and Calzaghe never allowed him that. Even Andrade had enough movement to avoid Kessler's hardest punch. Then I believe Froch's chin can survive most of what Kessler has to offer. How Froch deals with the accumulated effect is a whole different story. I hope Kess can rock Froch and take him out while Froch is on bambi-legs. If Dirrell can make Froch dance the chicken dance so can Kessler.

 

Same can be said of Froch too, except he's come through those tricky fights and won. I'm telling you now, Kessler and Abraham especially will be Froch's easiest fights of the Tournament.

Froch can weather Kessler's offense, he's no idiot, he'll easily find a way around Kessler's one-dimensional style. :good

 

Yeah, but Taylor is a more dangerous puncher against Froch.

Foreman hit harder than Frazier, but Frazier was more dangerous to Ali.

 

I've always thought that Froch might be vulnerable to a boxer who isn't necessarily brilliant at any one thing, but is a good, consistent all-rounder. He isn't so fast that it would take elite-level quickness to outspeed him and both Taylor and Dirrell showed that it doesn't take monsterous power to hurt him. I admit Pascal is probably an example of a solid all-rounder with decent speed and power, but I think the brawl-like nature of that fight suited Froch's style.

In his last two fights, he was being clearly outboxed for stretches, but I think what let Taylor and Dirrell down were lack of consistency. Yes, I appreciate that Froch's pressure and toughness were factors in breaking that consistency, but Taylor always seemed to wilt a bit in later rounds, irrespective of how much damage he had taken and was arguably beggining to slip from peak form when he fought Froch. And Dirrell's skittishness seemed to cost him rounds in the eyes of the judges. In spite of both guys blowing hot and cold, they were damn close to beating him.

Kessler may not have the unusual speed or athleticism of JT or AD, but he's nothing if not a decent all-rounder. Quicker than most, he has technique, toughness, experience, the ability to stick to a gameplan and doesn't fade down the stretch. If he sticks to boxing Froch and not brawling, he might have exactly the right consistency to last the fight with a points lead intact. I doubt the difficulties that Kessler had against Ward and Calzaghe will bother him vs. Froch. I suppose a lot depends on Kessler's form though, whether he has gotten past the loss to Ward or is actually beggining to decline...

 

I don't think Kessler is going to landing at will at all. Dirrell/Pascal/Taylor, they're all of equal/superior hand speed to Kessler, and whilst you could argue that they landed more than Froch in their respective fights, they weren't exactly finding the target all night, and what they did land was merely eaten up by Carl.

Dirrell went on to show just how slick/fast he is in his fight against Abraham. Now whilst you could argue that he had developed since the Froch fight, I'd find it hard to believe his indifference in performance was entirely due to his improvements, and not to do with his opposition. What I'm syaing here is, Froch does have a loose guard and fights with his hands down, but hes awkward to hit. It's a difficult style to articulate, but it is unique and it does undeniably work for Carl (even though I do wish he'd keep his hands up).

It's a very hard fight to pick, but I'm saying Kessler should be labelled the underdog here. He's going into this fight with doubt in his mind as well as the pressure of an essential victory in order to remain in the tournament.

Froch on the other hand has proved critics wrong, 3 times, against fighters labeled as "anti-froch" style. He's use to coping with a style disadvantage, and Kessler's won't be anything new.

 

Frochs' punching power will always keep him in the fight. If the Kessler who fought Calzaghe shows up he should win this fight but not handily.

 

Agree with this 100%. Kessler has to bounce back straight away from that terrible performance against Ward. He's fighting in front of his own fans, with a new trainer and has to win to stay in the tournament. The pressure is all on him.

Froch is going in with huge confidence as usual. I'd argue that Kessler is tailor made for Froch. A fighter with little movement who stands right in front of his opponents. Froch won't have much trouble finding him, it's whether Kessler is mentally there after his last defeat.