By Michael Collins: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) will be taking on a soft opponent for his next fight against recent Tavoris Cloud knockout victim light heavyweight Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s) in a scheduled 12 round bout on November 17th at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, UK. The fight doesn’t really make a lot of sense because Mack has already been knocked out by Glen Johnson in 2010, a fighter that Froch already beat in the Super Six tournament. It just looks like a mismatch.
Mack, 6’1″, will have to drop down from light heavyweight to make the fight with the 35-year-old Froch and you can imagine that Mack will be weakened from the process of making weight. It’s already a mismatch going in but when you add to that Mack having to take off weight to get down to the 168 lb limit then you’re really talking mismatch.
Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Sport did his best to try and hype Mack as an opponent, saying to Sky Sports News “He’s got nothing to lose coming here to face me and I know he’ll put it all on the line to take the title from me so I’ll be fully prepared for everything he’s got and I’ll be hitting him with all my best.”
“Nothing left to lose” sounds like code to me to mean Mack only has a puncher’s chance in this fight. In other words, this is a mismatch.
By James Slater: Earlier this week, when the news broke that Carl Froch would be defending his IBF super-middleweight title at his hometown arena, The F.M in Nottingham, there was speculation over who “The Cobra” would be facing.
By Michael Collins: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) will be making an important announcement this Monday to reveal who his next opponent will be in November at home in Nottingham, UK. Froch and his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport has done a good job of keeping it secret about who the next guy will be for him. We’ve seen names like Kelly Pavlik and Thomas Oosthuizen mentioned and then ruled out unfortunately.
By Michael Collins: The team of unbeaten super middleweight contender Thomas Oosthuizen (20-0-1, 13 KO’s) has reportedly said no to a match-up against IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch for November. It’s unclear why Oosthuizen’s team don’t want the fight but it likely comes to one of several things: Money, venue or readiness for the fight.