by James Slater – Former super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champion of the world Joe Calzaghe has given his expert opinion on this Saturday’s big WBC super-middleweight title fight between defending champ Carl Froch and challenger and former middleweight king Jermain Taylor. Unlike many fans out there, who seem sure, one way or the other, about who will win, Calzaghe is predicting an extremely close fight that could go either way. However, Joe did go as far as to say that if Taylor really shows his fighting heart, he can win..
Talking to his local newspaper, The South Wales Argus, the retired great spoke about the April 25th encounter.
“It’s an intriguing fight,” Calzaghe said. “Froch looked good last time out, but I’m not convinced the guy he beat, Jean Pascal, is a world class fighter. This represents a much bigger test for Froch. Taylor has the better ability, but I question his heart and Froch has all the heart in the world and a good chin. So it’s a very tough fight to call. I’d just about tip Taylor if he shows more heart than he has recently.
“If they are both at their best Taylor wins, but I certainly wouldn’t rule out Froch getting the better of him.”
As close a fight as Calzaghe sees this coming Saturday’s bout, just goes to show what a quality match-up it is. Froch claims he is going to become a new star of the 168 pound weight class, while “Bad Intentions” knows he has to win this fight or else his career at top level may well be over. Calzaghe questioned Taylor’s heart – at least he questioned how much of it there was on show in some of the more recent fights of the Arkansas man – does this mean the Kelly Pavlik and Jeff Lacy fights? Taylor looked pretty good in the first fight against Pavlik, coming within a whisker of stopping “The Ghost” in the 2nd round. What has Joe seen that makes him question Taylor’s recent heart and desire?
If there is any desire lacking on the part of the former middleweight ruler, Froch will sense it. Bigger, some would say stronger, and hugely confident, “The Cobra” knows he has to back up all his talking come fight night. Calzaghe is probably right when he says Taylor has the better ability, but will the hard-punching and hugely aggressive champion allow him to show this ability?
The tickets for this one were sold a while back, and now the fans await a potentially great fight. Joe Calzaghe, too, expects a close and hard-fought battle.