by James Slater – Fans have surely read all about how Carl Froch, recent points loser to Mikkel Kessler, stated he will not face his next “Super-Six” rival, Arthur Abraham, in Germany. Very much wanting the fight, pencilled in for August 21st, to take place in his home country, Froch instead seems to have been made to make a compromise. The deal, Wilfried Sauerland said, was for the fight take place in Europe, and now it looks like there is a good chance the fight, a must-win affair for both warriors, will take place in the unlikely setting of Switzerland..
While this may make attending the fight live an expensive thing for fans of both men, at least there will be no more talk of Froch quitting the “Super-Six” tournament. Things may change, and the venue could well be switched again before the fight, but wherever the Froch-Abraham war (and it will be a war) takes place, it will be a hard thing picking a winner in the days leading up to the collision.
Both men are, of course, coming off the first losses of their pro careers; Froch losing a very close decision to “The Viking Warrior” only recently, and before that Abraham being disqualified in the 11th-round of his March 27th fight with Andre Dirrell. 32-year-old Froch is now 26-1(20). 30-year-old Abraham is now 31-1(25).
Though both men had a tough night last time out, it was undeniably Froch who had the harder and more gruelling fight. Sure, Abraham took some hard and fast shots against Dirrell, even being decked for the first time in his career, but Froch went to hell and back against the classy Dane. Marked up, somewhat beaten up and very, very tired at the end of the brutal 12-rounds that took place in Herning, Froch may well have left something of himself behind in the ring. We won’t know for sure until they clash, but I feel Abraham will be the fresher man compared to Froch.
Still, Abraham’s own self confidence must have taken something of a blow after having lost a fight. Towards the end of the March fight, Abraham was coming on as he always does, but neither he nor we will ever know if he would have (legally) KO’d Dirrell in the 12th and final round the way he did Jermain Taylor back in his “Super-Six” debut in October of last year.
Maybe Froch and Abraham will both come into the ring in August (if they actually meet that soon – there have been suggestions Froch may need more time to physically heal from the wounds he suffered in the Kessler battle) with a real do-or-die attitude. Both men know they cannot afford to lose, and this means they will fight, fight and fight – hard! With so much on the line, it is of course always possible one or both fighters will come in a little gun-shy, not wanting to make any rash mistakes and be made to pay for them, but I just can’t see this being the case.
Abraham is almost always a slow starter, but I think we can look for him to begin his next fight at a faster pace. Not wanting to fall behind on the cards and run the risk of not being able to close the show and therefore blow a decision, Abraham will, I feel, put the heat on Froch right from the opening bell. Maybe it’s foolish to even suggest that this fight may go the distance, but I feel Froch – who will also look to stop himself from doing what he did against Kessler, in giving away rounds – will do very well to either KO or TKO the Armenian-born German tough guy. But Froch, also as tough as they come, if less defensively sound, may have a shot at winning on points.
It may all depend on who gets the better start in the fight; who has the better first half of the action. Call me crazy, but the former WBC champion’s defensive shortcomings aside, I do think this fight will surprise us all and go down to the wire (unless the Kessler battle did prematurely age the Nottingham man in a bad way). Froch felt he deserved the win against Kessler – will he feel the same at the end of 12 hard rounds with “King” Arthur?