By James Slater – Fight fans will be spoilt for choice this coming Saturday night. Along with the excellent Juan Manuel Marquez facing the always value for money Michael Katsidis in Las Vegas (with a decently-stacked under-card to go with the main event in Vegas), we have the potential Fight of The Year that is Carl Froch Vs. Arthur Abraham in Finland.
For weeks now, fans everywhere have been waiting and anticipating a truly great fight between these two “Super Six” super-middleweights, and a hardcore battle of strength, wits and punching power is almost guaranteed. In fact, the fight has the potential to be that good, Froch told the BBC, that it could even go down as one of the very best of the decade..
“This fight has the potential to be one of the best of the decade based on that fact that me and Arthur are coming to win, we’re both big punchers and we’re both very, very tough men,” Froch said recently.
And Abraham, like Froch beaten just once as a pro, sees nothing but a hard night ahead of him on Saturday. “King” Arthur feels he will not only win, though, but put Froch into retirement in the process. Froch has mentioned how he may indeed hang up the gloves if he loses for a second time (he loss his WBC title – which will be on the line on Saturday now that it’s vacant – and unbeaten record when he was out-pointed by Mikkel Kessler), saying he will not “hang around at domestic level,” And the tough and relentless German-based former middleweight ruler believes this is what will happen in a few days’ time.
“After the fight, Froch can plan his retirement,” Abraham told BBC.
As fans know, Abraham is also badly in need of a win, having lost his perfect record when being disqualified in his fight with Andre Dirrell (who, like Kessler, has also been forced to withdraw from “Super Six.”) Not only was “King” Arthur DQ’d against Dirrell, he was also losing on points and had been sent to the canvas in the fight.
Abraham says he will do everything that is needed to win on Saturday night.
“My coach told me that when you are in the ring, it’s life or death, always fight until the end and never go on your knees,” he said.
Of course, Dirrell, having slipped, did go to one knee in the fight with Abraham – only to be belted with a hard shot as he did so; hence the DQ. Not usually associated with dirty fighters, Abraham will have to make sure he keeps it clean in the rapidly approaching rumble. Both he and Froch will look to leave nothing in the ring in Finland, but we do not need another controversy.
“It will be difficult against [Froch], but I will win,” Abraham said.
The fight is sure to be extremely difficult for both fighters, but the victory either man will score will make all the hard work worth it. Still, Saturday’s winner might not have too much left for his next fight in “Super Six!”
For what it’s worth, I take “The Cobra” to dig a little deeper than Abraham and pull out a close and hugely exciting points win in Helsinki.