By Marcus Richardson: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2 21 KO’s) vs. light heavyweight contender Nicholson Poulard (19-3, 9 KO’s) is being talked about for Froch’s next fight in November in Nottingham. This is supposed to be Froch’s stay busy tune-up fight so it’s understandable why he might be taking on a lesser fighter compared to the guys he’s been facing recently. Poulard isn’t too well known, but he is known in Canada where he fights out of.
Poulard, 34, hasn’t been positively confirmed as Froch’s opponent as of yet, but we should know more tomorrow when Froch makes an announcement about his next opponent. There’s not much to talk about with Poulard other than him being the older brother of former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and having been beaten in the past by Sebastian Demers in 2009.
Poulard has a lot of wins but he’s faced largely lower level opposition through much of his career. He has a good right hand and left hook, but gets hit too much and typically backs up when pressured. I don’t care for the way that he just stands and covers up when hit, as it reminds me of watching a sparring partner. Poulard really looked horrible in the Demer’s fight, which is easily the biggest fight of his career.
This wouldn’t be a really a great fight for Froch to use to get ready for a rematch against southpaw Lucian Bute next year, because Poulard fights out of the orthodox right handed stance and he’s nothing like Bute. It is a nice safe fight for Froch, and it’s guaranteed to be entertaining for as long as it lasts. Since Froch is able to sell out the Nottingham Arena in England no matter who he faces, Poulard will be suitable for the occasion. However, it would be perhaps better if Froch would fight someone from his own weight class preferably a fringe contender like Sakio Bika or Rowland Bryant.
What makes Poulard an appealing opponent is that he fights out of Montreal, Canada, and the fight will no doubt be televised around Canada. This would in turn increase Froch’s visibility and make his rematch with Bute a slightly bigger fight in theory. But you’d like to see someone a little better than this, because it’s very hard to take this fight seriously when Poulard can’t even beat Demers, a fighter that has taken a lot of losses. Froch might as well be fighting Demers.