Carl Froch: heading towards Vegas, a spectacular career finale and The Hall of Fame!

Carl Froch, as the saying goes, has the world at his feet. The incredible 36-year-old scored his biggest and most satisfying win last night in crushing his most annoying and emotionally testing rival in George Groves (biggest in terms of record-breaking Box Office success and huge Wembley sell-out live gate) and now, as “The Cobra” casts an eye over how he will see out the remainder of his career as one of the greatest British fighters of all time, the options are plentiful for his next fight.

In silencing Groves – a talented and gifted fighter who pushed him hard over 15 rounds in two exciting battles – Froch showed once again how good he is. Capable of overcoming just about any style (with the exception of one boxer, who I will come back to further in this article), the Nottingham man has taken on all comers: see his fantastic wins over guys named Kessler, Bute, Dirrell, Abraham, Johnson, Pascal etc, etc. And now, already worthy, without any doubt, of being inducted into The Hall of Fame when the required amount of time has gone by, Froch can pick and choose how he walks away, the finishing touches put on his fine career.

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Roy Jones Jr: Golovkin would make Froch pay for his mistakes

HBO commentator Roy Jones Jr. says that he recommends that IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KO’s) go in the direction of former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for his next fight rather than Gennady Golovkin, as Jones Jr. feels that with the mistakes that he saw in Froch’s game last night in his win over George Groves (19-2, 15 KO’s), that he would be taken advantage of by Golovkin if he were to fight him next.

Froch has an optional title defense available for his next fight, and his promoter Eddie Hearn reportedly has been in talks with Top Rank for a fight between Froch and Chavez Jr. for the fall. It would seem that Hearn likes the idea of Froch fighting someone as popular as Chavez Jr. There’s been no talk of Hearn reaching out to K2 Promotions for a fight against Golovkin though.

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Froch knocks out Groves in London – Boxing Results

For the second and possibly the last time IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KO’s) … continue

Joshua KOs Legg; DeGale stops Gonzales; Mitchell beats Maduma

British heavyweight Anthony Joshua (6-0, 6 KO’s) took two mammoth left hooks from 38-year-old Matt Legg (7-3, 3 KO’s) before knocking him out in the 1st round with a right hand uppercut on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London, UK. Joshua came out looking kind of stiff over-muscled and while he was plodding forward, Legg smashed a left hook to the head of Joshua that send him reeling from the shot.

The crowd roared as if there might be an upset in the process. But Joshua fired back with a flurry of punches that got Legg to back off. But Legg was able to hit Joshua with another big left hook to the head that snapped his back. Joshua took the punch well, and he came forward to hit Legg with a right uppercut to drop him. Legg tried his best to get up from the knockdown, but the referee counted to 10 and the fight was stopped.

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Donaire defeats Vetyeka; Walters destroys Darchinyan

In what appeared to be a robbery tonight, Nonito Donaire (33-2, 21 KO’s) was given a 4 round technical decision victory over WBA Super World featherweight champion Simpiwe Vetyeka (26-3, 16 KO’s) in a fight where the victory should have been given to Vetyeka at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

Donaire was cut over the left eye at the end of the 1st round from what the referee ruled was a clash of heads. But in looking at the replay of where the cut occurred there was no head clash where contact was made by Donaire’s left eye. Instead it was a right hand from Vetyeka that hit Donaire on his left eye, causing him to go down on all fours on the canvas.

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Boxing Card Thrills in Detroit: Tony Harrison defeats McKart

DETROIT– In front of a loud and spirited crowd at Cobo Hall, middleweight Tony Harrison (15-0), made easy work of veteran Bronco McKart (56-11-1). Harrison knocked down McKart three times in the first round and veteran referee Sam Williams stopped the contest. In post fight celebrations, Harrison showed thanks for his spiritual beliefs, thanked and remembered Hall of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward and paid homage to his grandfather, Henry Hank. Harrison then rejoiced with and thanked his coaches and support team. Hanks had fought at Cobo Arena in 1961.

Harrison, 23, used powerful lefts to disable McKart. “I didn’t expect him to come at me so fast,” said Harrison. “I thank everyone in Detroit for the support.”

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Povetkin Destroys Charr in 7 – Boxing Results

Alexander Povetkin (27-1, 19 KO’s) administered a beating to a badly over-matched Manuel Charr (26-2, 15 KO’s) on Friday night in winning by a 7th round knockout at the Luzhniki, in Moscow, Russia. Povetkin hit Charr with a left uppercut that split his guard in the 7th.

Povetkin then followed up with a three punch combination that knocked Charr down flat. The last punch of the combination was a right hand that knocked Charr’s head sideways from the impact. Charr was already falling at the time and completely defenseless and badly hurt, but Povetkin looked like he didn’t want to take any chances that Charr might get back up.

Povetkin really had his way in this fight with his good footwork and combinations on the inside. He did a good job of planting himself in close to Charr and working him over with body and head shots.

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Froch – Groves: Unfinished Business – A Breakdown

The Grudge, the Golden boys and the Little Stars

Over 75 years since the last time 80 000 people gathered to watch a boxing fight in the UK, the Carl Froch vs George Groves rematch is undeniably a special event.

The headline event has every ingredient required to make it worthy of such an epic sporting occasion. However, just to ensure the night cannot fail, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom promotions has put on a fantastic undercard too.

In Carl Froch vs George Groves we have old vs young, the proven veteran against the up-and-coming contender and north vs south, a mix which has captured the imagination of the nation and the entire boxing world.

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Eight experts give their pre-fight predictions on Froch-Groves II

Photo by HBO/Ed Mulholland – One of the biggest fights in British boxing history will take place tomorrow, as bitter super-middleweight rivals Carl Froch and George Groves will go at it in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley. Currently, seemingly everyone is talking about the fight and who will win.

Here, eight figures from the boxing world give their pre-fight predictions:

Harold “The Shadow” Knight, former co-trainer of Lennox Lewis and current co-trainer of Zhang Zhilei:

“I’m going with Froch, even though I think Groves will test Froch and give him a competitive fight. Experience and the grit and toughness Froch has will see him keeping his titles.”

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If No Fight Mayweather Suffers Most

If no fight, it’s a given Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. loses more money than Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. Money took care of that little item by getting Manny to agree to take less. There’s no denying both fighters are great, and it’s a surety both are going to be in the Boxing Hall(s) of Fame. If no fight, though, fans and the media suffer too, because they are left with the unresolved question “Who would have won?”

That question will become like a canker, a blight on boxing. Eventually, though, it will dissipate and make ardent fans in each camp apathetic. The open ended debate will surface less and less, and become something like the occasional….Would Gene Tunney have beaten Jack Dempsey without benefit of the “Long Count”? Or, Did Jack Johnson take a dive in his loss to Jess Willard?” How about the question that surfaced about a splash many heard in Lewiston, Maine when Liston hit the canvas after being hit by Ali’s phantom punch? Those front page news events sooner or later fade away. More to the point…..Who would have won if Jake “Raging Bull” LaMotta and Rocky Graziano fought? Or, back to….. Would Dempsey have beaten Harry Wills? In the present day….How about Joe Calzaghe vs. Andre S.O.G. Ward?

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