by James Slater – Carl “The Cobra” Froch is massively confident ahead of his WBC super-middleweight title fight with unbeaten Canadian Jean Pascal, so much so that he and his promoter are looking ahead to a big fight with Jermain Taylor as a follow-up. If 31-year-old Froch, currently 23-0(19), gets past the also unbeaten Pascal, 21-0(14), on December 6th in his home town of Nottingham, a fight with “Bad Intentions” could take place next, and the venue being discussed is Madison Square Garden, New York.
“I have already made it clear we will go out there [to America],” said Mick Hennessey. “I offered Taylor big money to fight Carl for the title but he actually accepted less to take on Jeff Lacy in what was an eliminator. He obviously didn’t fancy Carl. Taylor Vs. Lacy was always going to be a mismatch.”
And while Taylor did get himself back in the world title picture with his clear and dominant points win over “Left Hook” a week ago, the jury is still out on how much the Arkansas man has left. A fight with Froch would go a long way towards telling us. This may be looking ahead too far, however, and Jean Pascal and his team would definitely say so. The Canadian should never even remotely be counted out, as he is as ambitious and talented as is Froch. Pascal is also a good deal the younger man at age 26.
But either way, Taylor against Froch or Taylor against Pascal, Jermain will soon likely have a chance to get himself back atop the boxing world, in his second weight class at that. Though the somewhat easy, almost shut-out, win over the practically shot Lacy told us little, Taylor is a welcome, big name addition to the 168-pound ranks. If promoted well, a Taylor Vs. Froch or Pascal clash in New York could be a very big fight.
This may be the way Taylor goes, but there was also talk, post-fight on November 15th, of Jermain looking to land a fight with unbeaten Welshman Joe Calzaghe. Perhaps not too keen on going over to Wales for the fight, Taylor would love a fight with Calzaghe in the US. Should Joe decide not to retire, this one could well take place; perhaps at a catch-weight as it’s unlikely Calzaghe will want to come back down to 168-pounds after having done so well as a light-heavyweight. Maybe Taylor would move up even higher?
There are certainly a number of attractive options for the 30-year-old who has only lost to the big-punching Kelly Pavlik at middleweight. It’s fair to assume Taylor will be watching the Froch-Pascal bout on December 6th with some interest. As too, no doubt, will be Joe Calzaghe.