by James Slater – It seems WBC super-middleweight champion Carl “The Cobra” Froch will meet his next-but-one “Super-Six” challenge in his own backyard! BoxRec.com (and a number of other sources) reports that Froch Vs. Arthur Abraham will go ahead in Nottingham, U.K on August 21st (exact venue still to be determined, but The Trent FM Arena, the scene of Froch-Andre Dirrell, has to be a good bet)..
This, of course, is good news for the unbeaten 32-year-old. And, as is the beauty of “Super-Six,” Froch will face the once-beaten Armenian who is based in Germany whether he wins or loses against Mikkel Kessler on the 24th of this month. No doubt Abraham – who is still feeling the effects of his losing (by DQ) effort against the aforementioned Dirrell – will be hoping Froch wins in Herning, Denmark; that way the WBC belt will be on the line in August. Either way, though, Froch Vs. Abraham is sure to be a great, great fight – perhaps the very best of the entire tournament.
Froch, of course, was deemed to have benefited mightily when he last fought in Nottingham, against “The Matrix” back in October. Some fans are still arguing now over how the hometown fighter received a hometown decision after that less than thrilling yet somewhat controversial affair. Still, even if this was the case (and I don’t feel it was, not at all); will the judges even come into things in August? For a while now, fans on this website’s comments facility have made it clear they fully expect Abraham to KO Froch when they meet, and if this turns out to be the case, obviously the scorecards of the judges will be rendered utterly meaningless.
But will 30-year-old Abraham be the force he was pre-Dirrell when he faces Froch? Okay, maybe the man who was “King” was on his way to a last-round stoppage against Dirrell back in March, and maybe, had he not belted Dirrell while he was down from a slip, he’d have won. But the fact remains, Abraham lost, and many fighters have proven to have been severely affected by their first loss. Sure, Abraham could enter his next fight mad as hell, looking to score a savage, frustration-removing KO – but could the former IBF middleweight champion be prone to making mistakes if he is too keen to look good?
Style-wise, Froch is of course nothing like Dirrell, and it’s hard to see the defending WBC champion outboxing and out-slicking Abraham the way Dirrell did. Therefore the visiting warrior is unlikely to suffer flashbacks to that frustrating night in Detroit. But if Froch is able to tag Abraham as often as Dirrell did, who knows?
Froch is yet to publicly comment on the news that he will face Abraham at home, but he is sure to be feeling pleased about it; and his confidence, always high, is sure to go a touch higher also. Sure to be a sell-out come August 21st, the Froch-Abraham fight will be a treat for all fans, British fight fans especially.
Those in attendance will almost certainly see a war of a fight. It’s too early for any predictions, but if we’re excited about the fast approaching Froch-Kessler, how excited will we be when Froch-Abraham is upon us? The city of Nottingham will be positively buzzing!