Carl Froch Vs. Robin Reid – Has “The Grim Reaper” Got A Chance Against “The Cobra?”

carl froch25.09.07 – by James Slater: Thirty-six year old Robin Reid makes a challenge for the undefeated Carl Froch’s British Super-middleweight boxing title on November 2nd, in Nottingham, England. The fight is quite a surprising one for Reid, the former WBC world champion at 168 pounds, to take. With only one victory in over two years, Robin is without a doubt going to be suffering from ring-rust when he steps in with the six years younger man.

Also, as far as he is into his career at this stage, this bout will mark the first and only time Reid will have boxed for a British title. Going in pretty much at the deep end near the beginning of his career, Robin instead fought for the established WBC world crown after having had just over twenty pro wins.

Of course, “The Grim Reaper” won the belt, with an impressive KO over Italian champion, Vincenzo Nardiello, in Italy. Coming as it did after his bronze medal win at the 1992 Olympics, this win looked to have established Reid as a new super star of British, if not world, boxing. Unfortunately, however, the really big fights seemed to elude Robin – at least until it was
perhaps too late for him to win them.

To this day, he is likely best known for the two really big fights he lost – his close decision defeat to Joe Calzaghe back in 1999, and then his only stoppage defeat, to Jeff Lacy, in August of ’05. Now, much removed from his prime, Robin takes on the talented and dangerous Froch. Is this another fight that has come too late for Reid? Carl is a big puncher, has excellent
reflexes and is ultra-confident. He will enter the ring with Reid having won his last five bouts by way of KO. Indeed, in his twenty-one wins only four times has he been forced to hear points totals. And although the still tough and well conditioned Reid is not an easy man to stop, “The Cobra” surely must be given a very realistic shot at becoming the second man to halt his 39-5-1(27) challenger.

Robin can punch pretty well himself, but with his recent activity level so low his chances at catching even a guy who holds his hands so low in Froch have to be looked at as minimal at best. In his last fight – a hard night’s work against Contender boxer Jesse Brinkley – Robin looked somewhat laboured at times. This was to be expected as it was his first fight since the loss to “Left Hook.” But this fight was back in March, and any ring-rust that was shed in the bout will have been put firmly back on by the time of the Froch fight – some eight months on. Surely, another tune-up would have been a good idea before going in there with “The Cobra?”

Robin is always game. He never looks overweight or out of shape when he fights, and he always comes to win. But at his current age, with his distinct lack of recent fights and the rust he will inevitably be carrying against such a fast opponent, I can only see one winner. Reid is showing bravery – a quality he has never been short of – by taking this tough fight, but it looks to me as though the British title will remain as something he was never destined to win.

Look for Carl, a fighter enjoying his absolute peak years, to stop Reid, a fighter whose prime was a good six or more years ago, in around eight hard rounds.