Froch vs. Kessler 2: Legacy and a date with the Legend of Longevity are on the line

_SJ20017Although few fighters if any can match the quality of opponent that Carl Froch has faced since his introduction to the big time in his 2008 fight with Jean Pascal, make no mistake about it, his legacy is on the line. Not only legacy but a fight with the legend of longevity Bernard Hopkins, is waiting in the wings in what would be a hall of fame sealer for Carl “The Cobra” Froch. There is only one problem. The Viking Warrior is standing in his way and Mikkel Kessler has plenty of skill along with grit to make his “Warrior Call” be heard to the roof tops of the O2 Arena in London. Another week, another 50-50 fight and win-win for boxing fans across the world.

According to the some betting lines Carl Froch ranges from an almost 2-1 favorite, all the way up to an astronomical 4-1 or 5-1 on a betting website in the U.K. Carl Froch has been the more active fighter since their fight in 2010, as well as facing the better opposition. Meanwhile, Mikkel Kessler was forced to take two separate breaks, one over a year and one almost a year, to heal his eye injuries that nearly forced him to retire from the sport. What if anything is different besides location from the first fight and will this fight play out in similar fashion?

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Chilemba expects to KO Bellew on Saturday night

bellew5#3 WBC light heavyweight contender Isaac Chilemba (20-1-2, 9 KO’s) wants to take the judges out of the equation this Saturday night in his rematch against #1 WBC Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s) at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Chilemba fought well enough to deserve a victory last March when he fought Bellew in Liverpool, England, but the judges saw it differently and scored it a 12 round draw. This time Chilemba will be looking to knock Bellew out.

Chilemba said to Sky Sports “I’m not a guy who looks for a knockout. The way I feel this time, I would be very surprised if he goes 12 rounds…this time I’m going to take every round.”

What’s not known by many boxing fans is that Chilemba went into his fight with Bellew last March with a chest cold, and he barely breath. He didn’t want to cancel the fight and toughed it out, giving away many of the rounds in the first half of the fight.

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Froch goes overboard with comments about Kessler

froch966There’s a right way and a wrong way to try and hype a fight, and IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) showed a prime example of the wrong by talking about possibly killing his opponent WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) in their unification fight this Saturday night in London, UK.

Froch said this to Telegraph.co.uk “If I have to I will kill this f***** [Kessler]. I will kill him. It sounds brutal, it sounds horrible, but that is what it means to me…when I smash his face in, I am going for the kill.”

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They Fight for the Money!

From 140lbs to 154lbs all the top guys are jockeying for position; promoters, advisers and managers are trying to secure the best fights for their charges. The best fights being the ones with the biggest payout with the least chance of losing. They ALL do it, it’s just a fact of professional fighting.

In June 2013, Paulie Malignaggi will face off against Adrien Broner for Malignaggi’s 147lb strap. Both men are reportedly getting near $1M for their efforts.

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Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler II: Preview & Prediction

Carl Froch vs. Mikkel KesslerWhen Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch (30-2, 22 KOs) squares off against ‘Viking Warrior’ Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KOs) for the second time this Saturday, it will have been more than three years since their first grueling encounter in Group Stage 2 of the Super Six Boxing Classic. That contest unquestionably represented the most compelling and entertaining match-up in the entire super middleweight tournament, and there is good reason to believe the rematch will be an equally competitive battle that rivals, or perhaps even surpasses, the original. Froch and Kessler are still both universally recognized as two of the very best 168 pound boxers in the world, just as they were on April 24, 2010 when Kessler was awarded a hard fought unanimous decision on his home turf in Denmark. What can we expect this time from these two proven warriors? Will ‘The Cobra’ strike the Dane with a lethal bite, or will ‘The Viking’ savagely slay the serpent?

Carl Froch has fought five times since he faced Kessler, going 4-1 during that stretch, while Mikkel has won all three of his bouts. Of course the lone loss suffered by Froch was at the hands of Andre Ward, who is widely viewed as an elite pound-for-pound talent on par with Floyd Mayweather Junior. No shame there. Kessler himself was soundly beaten by Ward previously. The fact that Froch bounced back from the loss with an impressive brutal knockout against Lucian Bute holds far greater importance when searching for clues to explore that might give us some indication of what to expect on Saturday.

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De La Hoya: I think Mayweather will fight Canelo

floyd#300Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions believes that WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. will choose to fight De La Hoya’s fighter WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September on the Mexican Independence holiday, and he feels that Canelo has a great chance of winning the fight.

De La Hoya said this as quoted by holylosangeles.com “I know Mayweather wants the fight, and he’ll take the fight. Many say that Mayweather is not the same fighter, but we saw that he still is against [Robert] Guerrero, but Canelo is not Guerrero. Nobody is invincible. No fighter retires undefeated…even the best in the world has to lose.”

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Froch brands Groves and Cleverly “Bitter and Jealous”

froch922 Boxing fans should already be aware that on Saturday the 25th of May, Nottinghamshire warrior, Carl Froch, will be fighting in his long awaited rematch with Mikkel Kessler at the 02 Arena. The first bout was a captivating toe to toe war and it is believed that this Super Middleweight contest will also be a battle for the ages.

In the build up to the fight there have been no real hiccups. This is a far cry from the volcanic ash cloud fiasco, one that Froch rather dubiously blamed for his loss in their 2010 match-up. However, there has still been some room for dissatisfaction in the Froch camp. He is allegedly enraged by George Groves’s and Nathan Cleverly’s decision to assist Kessler in sparring. As a result, has labelled the duo “bitter and jealous” in a cutting tirade of abuse.

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Fury to Deontay: If you beat Kevin Johnson, I’ll give you a fight

fury1Heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) has ignored American heavyweight contender Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder’s attempts to get him in the ring despite it being a fight that would help Fury in a huge way if he won. However, Fury now is saying that he’ll agree to fight Deontay if he beats Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson (29-3-1, 15 KO’s), a guy that Fury easily beat by a 12 round unanimous decision last December.

Fury said on his social media site: “At Bronzebomber [Deontay Wilder], if you can beat Kevin ‘Kingpin’ Johnson, I’ll definitely give you your fight with me!!!! What do you say? I know Kevin will fight.”

I don’t think for a second that Fury, #5 WBO, #6 WBC, #8 IBF, would hold up his end of the bargain if Deontay did take the fight with Johnson and knock him out. Without it being written in a contract, Fury could then just ignore Wilder like before and continue to fight other guys.

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Left-Hook Lounge: Matthysse/Peterson, Can Matthysse tame Broner?, and Should Peterson/Judah Be Next?

matthysse84Mason N. (Bronx, NYC): I never saw the Matthysse victory over Peterson coming the way it did! Your Facebook post was almost spot on! What did you see coming into the fight that Peterson and a few of us didn’t?

Vivek W.: Although I predicted a Matthysse victory via split decision, the main premise of my argument that supported him winning was the fact that I don’t think we ever quite knew what we had in Peterson. We saw him gut out a few tough victories, but we also saw him buzzed quite a bit, and actually dropped 3 times in the past. One of those knockdowns came at the hands Timothy Bradley who has never been known as a hard puncher, highlighted in his abysmal 11 knockouts in 30 pro fights. When we look at the core of those knockdowns and those near knockdowns, each and every time they came as a result of his reckless penchant for staying in the pocket and trying to bang.

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The Hardest Punchers In Boxing Today: From Heavyweight On Down!

wlad45Last night in Atlantic City, in “The House That Gatti Built,” we all saw a brutal and highly efficient display of what all boxing fans both love and, deep down, crave: KO punching power. Argentine 140-pound KO King Lucas Matthysse blew away the previously unstopped Lamont Peterson, in so doing giving the sport a high-energy jolt of excitement.

For as much as we can appreciate a master boxer, like, say, a Floyd Mayweather Junior, there is nothing quite like a lights out master such as Matthysse. That said, who are the single hardest punchers in boxing today from heavyweight on down?

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