By Michael Collins: Light heavyweight Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s) looked good at yesterday’s weigh-in despite coming down from 175 lbs to take the fight with IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) in Nottingham, England. Most boxing fans and experts aren’t giving Mack much of a chance at winning this fight but that’s not stopping Mack from feeling he’s got what it takes to upset the 35-year-old Froch. The way Mack sees it he can win this fight if he doesn’t fade like he sometimes does by the midpoint of his fights.
Carl Froch
Carl Froch boxing news
Andre Ward not interested in Froch’s fight with Mack
By Michael Collins: Having beaten Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) soundly in the Super Six finals last December, WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) says he has absolutely zero interest in following Froch’s fight tonight against American light heavyweight Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s) in Nottingham, England.
Ward said on his twitter: “Cobra fans seem a bit upset that I’m not watching. Sorry folks…NOT INTERESTED! I’m not watching Froch vs Mack. You guys can tell me what happens. Honestly, really not interested in the fight. Looking forward to the HBO fights tonight!! I’m picking [Adrien] Broner and [Seth] Mitchell. They both should be good fights. Froch fans keep saying it wasn’t him in the ring the night we fought…then who was it…his twin brother??!! Froch Fans: Ride with your guy, but the things you say have to make since…ok??!! Froch said he wasn’t himself when we fought, because he was HOME SICK. Question: Why do I HAVE TO rematch Froch in the UK?? #IWonTheFirstOne Talk to me UK!!”
Ward takes issue with the excuses that Froch has made about his loss to him last December in which Froch said he wasn’t at his best in that fight and that if he had fought the way he had in his win over IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute then he would have beaten Ward.
Froch sees Bute’s win against Grachev as a so-so performance
By Michael Collins: Carl Froch thinks that Lucian Bute didn’t look great in beating Denis Grachev by a 12 round unanimous decision last night in Bute’s win in Montreal, Canada. But Froch believes that it was a situation where Bute needed any kind of win to get over the hump of his knockout loss to Froch last May.
Froch said to Sky Sports News: “Let’s be honest, it wasn’t the most impressive performance from Lucian Bute that I’ve ever seen. Bute didn’t really impress, but it was a comeback fight from a devastating defeat against myself, so what did people expect? He needed to find his feet again, find his confidence. I’m sure he’s done that. I think mentally he needed to get that fight in the bag.”
Bute actually didn’t look that bad. What was missing from the performance was of course a knockout for Bute. However, he was fighting a guy in Grachev that even Froch likely wouldn’t be able to KO. Grachev has a great chin and he doesn’t stand in one place and let you punch on him. He moves around and he’s a solid guy.
Only 500 tickets left for Froch vs. Mack fight
By Michael Collins: There are reportedly only 500 tickets left for the November 17th clash between IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch and his light heavyweight opponent Yusaf Mack for the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England. Over 9000 tickets have already been sold and the 35-year-old Froch is counting on the last 500 getting scooped up well before the fight next month. Froch wants it to be extra loud for the visiting American Mack just like it was for Froch’s last opponent former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute, who seemed unnerved by the crowd noise and ended up losing badly to Froch.
Froch said to Sy Sports News “The atmosphere against Bute was absolutely electric – the best I’ve ever boxed in front of. Mack will not have seen anything like it in his life…the fans will raise the roof for me.”
Froch hadn’t fought in Nottingham since beating Andre Dirrell there by a controversial decision in October 2009 in the Super Six tournament. The crowd was plenty loud during that fight but Froch fought poorly, missing punching all night, and doing quite a bit of ugly fouling that he got away with. The crowd didn’t help Froch in that respect, and his victory was viewed different depending on what part of the world you came from.
Froch vs. Mack: Carl hopes this will be an easy fight
Mack does have good power, but he’s had problems with his stamina in the past for fights that go past four rounds. Also, he’s going to be coming down in weight from 175 for this fight and it’s likely he’ll be weaker than he usually is.
It’s unclear who’s idea it was for Froch to fight a soft touch for his next fight – his or his promoter Eddie Hearn. Froch had a ton of options available for him for the November 17th fight.
Bellew to fight Bolonti on Froch vs. Mack card on November 17th
By Michael Collins: Making his first defense of his WBC International Silver light heavyweight strap, Tony Bellew (18-1, 12 KO’s) has a fight coming up against Argentinian Roberto Bolonti (30-1, 19 KO’s) on November 17th on the undercard of the Carl Froch – Yusaf Mack fight at the Capital FM Arena, in Nottingham, England. According to the 29-year-old Bellew this was the highest ranking contender that was willing to face him on short notice like this. The fact that Bolonti so readily agreed to take the fight suggests that he sees something in Bellew’s fighting style that makes him believe he can win this fight.
In an interview at IFilm London, Bellew said “I think his [Bolonti] weakness is his defense, and the way to get to him is to pressure him. It’s another step up the ladder.”
Bellew is coming off of two good victories over Danny McIntosh and Edison Miranda in his last two fights with both victories coming by knockout. Before that, Bellew lost a controversial 12 round majority decision against WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly last year in October in a fight that appeared to be a draw at the least, if not a victory for Bellew. However, Bellew needed to put in an especially strong effort if he wanted to get a win because he was after all the challenger.
Hearn: Cleverly’s camp could have offered £10million to fight Froch, and the answer would still be no
By Michael Collins: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) and his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport have reportedly turned down a huge £1million offer from Frank Warren for Froch to step up and fight WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (24-0, 11 KO’s) in a catchweight fight. Instead of taking that big payday for his fighter Froch and thrilled British boxing fans, Hearn has instead matched Froch up against American Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s) in a fight that will take place on November 17th at the Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Hearn told thesun.co.uk “His camp could offer £10m, the fight isn’t going to happen. It would be impossible for Carl Froch to move up to 175.”
That’s interesting because according to Warren he was open to having Cleverly fight Froch at a catchweight to make the fight happen. Froch wasn’t necessarily being asked to move up 7 pounds in weight to take on the 25-year-old unbeaten Cleverly at the full weight for light heavywweight at 175.
Cleverly has to settle for Uzelkov after Froch, Bellew, Shumenov and Hopkins fights failed to materialize
By Marcus Richardson: WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (24-0, 11 KO’s) is having to settle for a fight against #9 WBO Vyacheslav Uzelkov (27-2, 16 KO’s) on October 27th instead of much bigger fights against Carl Froch, Bernard Hopkins, Tony Bellew and Beibut Shumenov. Cleverly’s promoter Frank Warren attempted to line up a fight between Cleverly and each of those fighters but they either showed no interest in facing him or they backed out.
Warren said to thesun.co.uk “A huge purse was put to Froch to move up a weight division — which he turned down — and Bellew rejected the offer of a rematch. It’s proved frustrating. We had Hopkins lined up and then he pulled out, while Shumenov didn’t want to come over.”
Cleverly and the 33-year-old Uzelkov will be meeting up at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It’ll be a home fight more or less for the 25-year-old Cleverly, although he probably won’t need the cheering from his fans in order to get past Uzelkov. All it’ll take is a good chin to hold up under Uzelkov’s occasional big right hand shots and a steady workrate to beat him down.
Carl Froch Eyes Fights With Mack, Bute, Kessler, And Then Possible Retirement – If “The Cobra” Goes 3-0 From Here, Will He Be Hall Of Fame-Worthy?
By James Slater: British warrior and reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-middleweight Carl Froch has not in any way said he will definitely retire after his planned rematches with Lucian Bute and Mikkel Kessler, but the 35-year-old will not be around forever and “The Cobra” has hinted that he would look at going out, on top, if he were to avenge his loss to Kessler next year, after having first taken care of next challenger Yusaf Mack and then, in a contractually-bound return, Bute.
Froch, who says he will not neglect serious training duties for the Nov. 17th defence against former light-heavyweight title challenger Mack, said in an interview with The Sun that a 2013 hometown win over Kessler would be “the pinnacle for me,” and that to finish his career in such a way would be “unbelievable.”
If this is the way Froch goes out, with three more bouts (which he of course feels would be wins) and then retirement at age 36 or 37, would the Nottingham man be Hall of Fame worthy should he quit with a 32-2 record?
Let’s look at Froch’s list of achievements:
Has Froch let his fans down by choosing Yusaf Mack to fight next?
By Michael Collins: By now you’ve all heard the news about IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s next fight against light heavyweight Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s) on November 17th at the Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom. Froch’s choice of an opponent hasn’t been well received from boxing fans who wanted to see Froch fight a much better opponent than then the struggling 32-year-old Mack. Froch had always prided himself on not taking any easy fights. Well, this certainly does seem to be an easy fight for him and it’s more than off putting when you consider that Froch may not have more than a small handful of fights left in his career before he retires.
Boxing fans wanted to see Froch fight unbeaten South African Thomas Oosthuizen or Sakio Bika at the least. But in choosing Mack, Froch and his promoter Eddie Hearn seem to have really reached for the bottom and it’s disappointing to Froch fans. There are some Froch fans who are okay with this choice and feel that Froch can fight anyone due to him having put in two hard years in the Super Six tournament.
However, many other boxing fans don’t buy into excuses like that and they feel that fighters shouldn’t be taking easy fights, especially given that the price of tickets don’t change to reflect an easier fight. I can understand that. If a fighter is going to take a tune-up bout then the prices of tickets should change along with it so that boxing fans don’t get stuck paying big money for a mismatch that will likely end in a few rounds.