As weird as this sounds, I'm disappointed Froch won on Saturday

[bzkfn]

I'm really hoping Bilbo reads this, as judging by previous posts on the forum, he appears to be a big fan of Carl Froch. Same goes for Tam.

First off, let me start by saying that I'm a fan of what Carl brings to the ring, and have believed for a while he has what it takes to make it at world level. However, while I was watching the fight on Saturday, while I believed Carl could knock Taylor out, by the last round I was hoping he wouldn't pull it out. The fight was nearly a disaster for him, as he abandoned all his fundamentals, kept his hands down, didn't seem to listen to his corners instructions and seemed to miss alot. His aftermath interview suggested he always felt he was ahead in the fight, yet going into the last round I had him 4 points down. He was beaten to the punch most of the night and my concern for the future is that because he pulled out the win, he won't learn from his mistakes. Carl's a great fighter, but there are harder hitters at 168 than Taylor who don't have stamina issues and he can't rely on this type of performance forever. Calzaghe would have schooled him and made him look stupid. He really needs to learn to move his head and work on his defensive skills.

[Kev]

I'm really hoping Bilbo reads this, as judging by previous posts on the forum, he appears to be a big fan of Carl Froch. Same goes for Tam.

First off, let me start by saying that I'm a fan of what Carl brings to the ring, and have believed for a while he has what it takes to make it at world level. However, while I was watching the fight on Saturday, while I believed Carl could knock Taylor out, by the last round I was hoping he wouldn't pull it out. The fight was nearly a disaster for him, as he abandoned all his fundamentals, kept his hands down, didn't seem to listen to his corners instructions and seemed to miss alot. His aftermath interview suggested he always felt he was ahead in the fight, yet going into the last round I had him 4 points down. He was beaten to the punch most of the night and my concern for the future is that because he pulled out the win, he won't learn from his mistakes. Carl's a great fighter, but there are harder hitters at 168 than Taylor who don't have stamina issues and he can't rely on this type of performance forever. Calzaghe would have schooled him and made him look stupid. He really needs to learn to move his head and work on his defensive skills.

I really don't think it was all that bad BZKFN.

The only really bad round for him was round 3. Aside from that he didn't have much more problems than Calzaghe did against Kessler.

Imagine if Kessler had had a big round and dropped Calzaghe early the scorecards would have been similar after the first five rounds.

From round 6 onwards it was a mostly a Froch fight, I had Froch winning 6,8,10,11 and 12.

He made mistakes early on mainly I suspect due to the huge step up in class, nerves and being suprised by Taylors speed and accuracy.

But he got better and better as the fight went on.

People on here are judging his entire career now off the back mainly of one terrible round as if he's always going to fight as badly as he did in round 3 and that forever more his only hope of winning fights will be from a come behind knockout.

What bemuses me is those who still say Taylor would be favourite to win a rematch assuming that Taylor can iron out all of his frailty problems between now and rematch but that Froch is doomed to forever fight like he did in those first 5 rounds.


In short, even at his most sloppy and most careless, against a faster, slicker opponent he still came out on top.

He was my dark horse in the entire division before the Taylor fight and he is even more so now.

I'd be far more worried about a fighter capitulating in the last rounds like Taylor and Bute did, or of Kelly Pavlik going down without a fight against Bernard Hopkins than I would a raw, powerful fighter who got caught repeatedly and early by a far slicker boxer but who still stuck to his task, came back and knocked his opponent out in his own back yard.

Froch has so far done what no other 168 lb champ has done, step up to elite class and win.

[bzkfn]

I'm really hoping Bilbo reads this, as judging by previous posts on the forum, he appears to be a big fan of Carl Froch. Same goes for Tam.

First off, let me start by saying that I'm a fan of what Carl brings to the ring, and have believed for a while he has what it takes to make it at world level. However, while I was watching the fight on Saturday, while I believed Carl could knock Taylor out, by the last round I was hoping he wouldn't pull it out. The fight was nearly a disaster for him, as he abandoned all his fundamentals, kept his hands down, didn't seem to listen to his corners instructions and seemed to miss alot. His aftermath interview suggested he always felt he was ahead in the fight, yet going into the last round I had him 4 points down. He was beaten to the punch most of the night and my concern for the future is that because he pulled out the win, he won't learn from his mistakes. Carl's a great fighter, but there are harder hitters at 168 than Taylor who don't have stamina issues and he can't rely on this type of performance forever. Calzaghe would have schooled him and made him look stupid. He really needs to learn to move his head and work on his defensive skills.

I really don't think it was all that bad BZKFN.

The only really bad round for him was round 3. Aside from that he didn't have much more problems than Calzaghe did against Kessler.

Imagine if Kessler had had a big round and dropped Calzaghe early the scorecards would have been similar after the first five rounds.

From round 6 onwards it was a mostly a Froch fight, I had Froch winning 6,8,10,11 and 12.

He made mistakes early on mainly I suspect due to the huge step up in class, nerves and being suprised by Taylors speed and accuracy.

But he got better and better as the fight went on.

People on here are judging his entire career now off the back mainly of one terrible round as if he's always going to fight as badly as he did in round 3 and that forever more his only hope of winning fights will be from a come behind knockout.

What bemuses me is those who still say Taylor would be favourite to win a rematch assuming that Taylor can iron out all of his frailty problems between now and rematch but that Froch is doomed to forever fight like he did in those first 5 rounds.


In short, even at his most sloppy and most careless, against a faster, slicker opponent he still came out on top.

He was my dark horse in the entire division before the Taylor fight and he is even more so now.

I'd be far more worried about a fighter capitulating in the last rounds like Taylor and Bute did, or of Kelly Pavlik going down without a fight against Bernard Hopkins than I would a raw, powerful fighter who got caught repeatedly and early by a far slicker boxer but who still stuck to his task, came back and knocked his opponent out in his own back yard.

Froch has so far done what no other 168 lb champ has done, step up to elite class and win.

I thought Taylor stole round 11. Froch often had rounds in the bag and then got caught by some big shots. I found it a little alarming that he wasn't learning from his mistakes throughout the fight and was walking onto shots. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging his whole career on it. I just felt in his aftermath interview he was cocky, arrogant and didn't admit that he was nowhere near his best. I just worry he'll revert to this type from now on. Look at Hatton. They came up with a style to beat Tszyu and then his next 5 fights Graham had Hatton trying to maul every opponent he faced. I just felt he was poor on Saturday, and his power and Taylor's stamina totally bailed him out. I just hope he privately admits to his shortcomings and works on them for future, because you can't just walk in with your hands down when your reactions are as slow as his are.

[Kev]

I'm really hoping Bilbo reads this, as judging by previous posts on the forum, he appears to be a big fan of Carl Froch. Same goes for Tam.

First off, let me start by saying that I'm a fan of what Carl brings to the ring, and have believed for a while he has what it takes to make it at world level. However, while I was watching the fight on Saturday, while I believed Carl could knock Taylor out, by the last round I was hoping he wouldn't pull it out. The fight was nearly a disaster for him, as he abandoned all his fundamentals, kept his hands down, didn't seem to listen to his corners instructions and seemed to miss alot. His aftermath interview suggested he always felt he was ahead in the fight, yet going into the last round I had him 4 points down. He was beaten to the punch most of the night and my concern for the future is that because he pulled out the win, he won't learn from his mistakes. Carl's a great fighter, but there are harder hitters at 168 than Taylor who don't have stamina issues and he can't rely on this type of performance forever. Calzaghe would have schooled him and made him look stupid. He really needs to learn to move his head and work on his defensive skills.

I really don't think it was all that bad BZKFN.

The only really bad round for him was round 3. Aside from that he didn't have much more problems than Calzaghe did against Kessler.

Imagine if Kessler had had a big round and dropped Calzaghe early the scorecards would have been similar after the first five rounds.

From round 6 onwards it was a mostly a Froch fight, I had Froch winning 6,8,10,11 and 12.

He made mistakes early on mainly I suspect due to the huge step up in class, nerves and being suprised by Taylors speed and accuracy.

But he got better and better as the fight went on.

People on here are judging his entire career now off the back mainly of one terrible round as if he's always going to fight as badly as he did in round 3 and that forever more his only hope of winning fights will be from a come behind knockout.

What bemuses me is those who still say Taylor would be favourite to win a rematch assuming that Taylor can iron out all of his frailty problems between now and rematch but that Froch is doomed to forever fight like he did in those first 5 rounds.


In short, even at his most sloppy and most careless, against a faster, slicker opponent he still came out on top.

He was my dark horse in the entire division before the Taylor fight and he is even more so now.

I'd be far more worried about a fighter capitulating in the last rounds like Taylor and Bute did, or of Kelly Pavlik going down without a fight against Bernard Hopkins than I would a raw, powerful fighter who got caught repeatedly and early by a far slicker boxer but who still stuck to his task, came back and knocked his opponent out in his own back yard.

Froch has so far done what no other 168 lb champ has done, step up to elite class and win.

I thought Taylor stole round 11. Froch often had rounds in the bag and then got caught by some big shots. I found it a little alarming that he wasn't learning from his mistakes throughout the fight and was walking onto shots. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging his whole career on it. I just felt in his aftermath interview he was cocky, arrogant and didn't admit that he was nowhere near his best. I just worry he'll revert to this type from now on. Look at Hatton. They came up with a style to beat Tszyu and then his next 5 fights Graham had Hatton trying to maul every opponent he faced. I just felt he was poor on Saturday, and his power and Taylor's stamina totally bailed him out. I just hope he privately admits to his shortcomings and works on them for future, because you can't just walk in with your hands down when your reactions are as slow as his are.

I imagine he won't likely change that much. He does it deliberately, he likes to lure opponents in and then catch them with his monster uppercuts. Taylor's speed gave him problems and it was a hard style matchup for him but he came through it.

I don't see anyone else at 168 who is as complete a boxer as Taylor so I don't think he will be outboxed as much as he was those 5 rounds.

Froch seems to fight to the level of his opposition, he's looked poor in several fights, Magee was outboxing him early, Robin Reid caught him several times, that's just the way he fights I guess.

He's not going to be looking at a 46-0 career like Joe Calzaghe, he's got definite flaws, but he's got as good a chance as any of unifying the 168 lb division and possibly moving up to challenge at 175.

I only see Kessler really giving him too much trouble, I'm extremely confident he handles everyone else.

[Tysonbruno]

Lets judge him more on his next fight i think the nerves and occasion got to him to much this time but bottom line is he got the win.

[Taeth]

I'm not sold on him, I don't think he looked super great against Pascal either.

[AdamGB]

Lets judge him more on his next fight i think the nerves and occasion got to him to much this time but bottom line is he got the win.

Was just going to say the exact same thing, granted Froch isn't exactly the most technically honed/tight fighter but I think the size/level of the occasion really got to him.

He looks nervous, almost scared before the fight... He's went from fighting people relativly unknown outside of the boxing circuits in his home town (let alone country) to fighting a big marquee name in America, a top (if past prime) world class fighter and former undisputed MW champ with two wins over B Hopkins.

After KOing Taylor I can't really see him having any sort of nerves with the other top SMW so we should judge him properly off his next bout.

I think Froch sees himself as an equal or more to the likes of Bute/Kessler... but what ever he fronts surely he'd have to have seen Taylor's pedigree and know that despite Pascal being a solid fighter he was a relative unkown quantity versus Taylor.

Nerves shouldn't be a factor next time out and I just hope that whatever he says to the T.V. Cameras he looks very hard at the portions of the fight that he lost and learns from it.