“Pega fuerte” (English translation: “he hits hard”) said Henry Porras of Carl "The Cobra" Froch, while he was in his corner after the first round of their super middleweight fight televised as the co-main event of Oscar de la Hoya’s Boxeo De Oro on HBO Latino tonight. I was studying the Englishman and noticed that he has a very “Americanized” style.

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Carl holds his hands a little low, and the orthodox fighter hides his chin behind his left shoulder. He is a very hard body puncher and leads with his left hook, ala Roy Jones Jr. He seems to have a good sense of distance and has solid hand-speed. His defense leaves something to be desired, but he does have little subtle movements that made Porras miss (not that Henry is an accurate puncher). The Englishman likes to showboat and seems to have some fun in the ring. His jab, although effective when he throws it with authority, seems to be more of a range finder for his overhand right, which is a little pronounced, but effective. He showed a decent chin as he was never hurt, but was caught with some solid straight right hands and raked with some hard hooks. Although his record, 14-0 with 11 KOs, suggests that “The Cobra” is a puncher, he does not seem to be what is referred to in the business as a “showstopper,” as Porras caught him with some clean right hands and left hooks, but never enough to put Froch down. Carl does seem to have some pop though, as some of those punches did stun the Costa Rican several times and caused some damage. “The Cobra’s” conditioning seems to be shaky as by the sixth round, he was breathing hard, and had his hands at his waist. In the seventh round, Froch handed out a vicious beating, and had his opponent seriously hurt. He was surprised that the referee would not stop it and kept hitting Porras with straight right hands. Carl’s corner advised him to punish the Costa Rican and let the referee do his job. “Keep punching and don’t look at the referee,” said Carl’s trainer. Froch came out strong in the eighth, and kept punishing Porras until Henry’s corner threw in the towel. “The Cobra” earned a TKO victory.

Over all analysis: In my humble opinion, Carl “The Cobra” Froch showed some promise, natural talent, and definite skills, but he is still a very raw work in progress. He got caught with too many clean punches, and seems to lack some conditioning. Also, he needs to work on that jab as, when used with authority, it was effective, but he did not use it as often as he should have. Also, “The Cobra” seems to have decent punching power, but needs to work on more technique to shorten and crisp up his punches; that will help add to their effects. Carl is definitely an exciting fighter as he stood in and traded a lot of leather, so he should be one to watch in the future.

SaddoBoxing will keep a close eye on this up and coming prospect.

Sergio Martinez can be reached at srg_mrtnz@yahoo.com

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