IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch is on the verge of getting his dream fight against former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on March 28th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight is close to being finalized, according to the Express.co.uk. Froch, 37, will have his two titles on the line for the fight unless Chavez Jr has problems making weight, which is a distinct possibility given his recent track record.
Out of all the fighters that Froch could have selected for the fight, he chose Chavez Jr despite the fact that he’s not a belt holder at super middleweight and he’s never actually fought a true 168 pound fighter from the division. This will be Chavez Jr’s first fight against a real super middleweight.
In Chavez Jr’s last two fights, he’s fought middleweight Brian Vera at super middleweight and not looked particularly good in either of the fights.
Froch appears to be just looking for one last fight against a guy that he thinks is popular enough for the fight to be pay-per-view in the United States. It’s going to be a big ask to assume that the U.S boxing fans will purchase this fight in high numbers, because Froch isn’t exactly a household name among the casual fans in America, and Chavez Jr hasn’t fought in 9 months.
You can make an argument that Chavez Jr still hasn’t won back the fans he lost after his loss to Sergio Martinez in 2012, and his poor effort against Brian Vera in their first fight in September of 2013. That’s a fight that Chavez Jr appeared to lose, yet the three judges scored it 98-92, 96-94 and 97-93. While Chavez Jr did a good job of beating Vera in the rematch this year in February, but Chavez Jr should have been fighting real super middleweights at that point instead of facing a retread opponent.
This could be a tougher than expected fight for Froch. He didn’t look so great in his last two fights against George Groves. He won both of them, but he definitely struggled through parts of both fights. Chavez Jr has the chin to walk through anything that Froch throws at him. What’s going to be interesting is to see how Froch reacts to getting hit in the body frequently by Chavez Jr.
This will be a new experience for Froch, because he’s spent most of his career fighting head hunters. Froch’s chin will also be tested frequently by Chavez Jr. Froch was hurt in his first fight by Groves and in his rematch against Mikkel Kessler in May of 2013. If Chavez Jr can stay in the pocket against Froch for the entire fight, he could do a lot of damage and give Froch a bad career-ending fight.
