By James Slater – Three-time king and reigning IBF super-middleweight champ Carl Froch was a guest on Sky Sports’ Ringside show last night (sat alongside him was one-time potential rival, the great Joe Calzaghe) and “The Cobra” spoke about what’s happening regarding his next fight..
In a nutshell, Froch said return matches with Lucian Bute (who he ultra-impressively wrecked inside 5-rounds back in May) and Mikkell Kessler (who out-pointed Froch in a classic war back in April of 2010) will happen next year (talks are ongoing with the Dane, and there is still a small chance the return could happen this year but 2013 looks far more likely) – and that he will make a first defence of his IBF crown in the meantime.
The teak-tough, never-in-a-bad-fight 35-year-old said he will definitely be fighting again before Christmas (presumably in his home town of Nottingham) and that he and promoter Eddie Hearn will sit down and see who’s available – “somebody in the top-five or at least the top-10,” Froch said.
So, who could it be later this year? Looking down the current top-10 IBF 168-pound rankings, we see: 1, Not Rated, 2, Adonis Stevenson, 3, Edwin Rodriguez, 4, Thomas Oosthuizen, 5, Lucian Bute, 6, James DeGale, 7, Mikkell Kessler, 8, Kelly Pavlik, 9, Sakio Bika, 10, Glen Johnson,
Obviously, we can rule out Johnson (already fought and lost to Froch), Kessler, Bute, Stevenson (busy with an upcoming fight in August so unlikely to be ready to fight again by November or December, but you never know), Rodriguez and Oosthuizen (both also busy) straight away; leaving DeGale, Pavlik and Bika as the most appealing choices.
Pavlik was also featured on Ringside last night, and “The Ghost” spoke of how he is definitely up for a fight with Froch. Now that he’s back working hard and fully focused again, the former middleweight king would, in my opinion, make a great challenger for Froch. Never in a bad fight and a rival to Froch in the value for money stakes, Pavlik might be willing to come over to the U.K at the end of the year to rumble with Froch. And it would be a rumble if these two met, no doubt about it.
Bika also would jump at the chance to fight Froch. As tough and durable as they come, “The Scorpion” has never been stopped and he has never been scared to travel to another guy’s backyard to fight. Having won his last two, Bika remains a most capable warrior. As for DeGale, he is still at European level and a fight with Froch would be coming way too early for the Olympian.
To my mind there are two fighters Froch and his team must choose from for the before Christmas defence: Pavlik and Bika. Either guy would attract the U.K fans, probably to the extent that The F.M Arena in Nottingham would enjoy another sell-out.
Froch would be a pretty big favourite to retain his belt against either man, but both Pavlik and Bika have the stuff needed to be able to bring out the best in “The Cobra.”