FROCH v TAYLOR - 25/4/09 - ITV1 Sunday replay!

[Rantcatrat]

I''ll be very surprised if Froch gets a decision in Taylor's backyard.

Taylor has a big speed advantage. He'll be bombing eye-catching crowd-whoopers, especially early doors, onto Froch's bonce, which will influence the judges greatly.

Froch has to stop him. I doubt he can do that unless Taylor fades badly.

It isn't really Taylor's backyard - Taylor is from Arkansas and the fight is in Connecticut. As anyone from the US will tell you, there is a big difference between Arkansas and Connecticut; I imagine it is comparable to the difference between Cardiff and London. For example, to the extent Calzaghe would have a hometown advantage versus a foreign fighter in London, Taylor, will have that same advantage (perhaps to a lesser extent because Calzaghe is bigger in Britain than Taylor is in the US), in Connecticut versus Froch. Of course, the crowd will be pro-Taylor (you can count on that from at least one spectator ), but more because of his notoriety than because of a specific allegiance to Taylor.

That said, I agree Froch has to stop him because Taylor will win more rounds due to his advantages in speed. Look at the evidence: besides his second fight with Pavlik, in which Pavlik was the rising superstar and coming off a highlight reel KO, Taylor has never lost a fight on the cards even when the challengers gave good efforts (Hopkins, Spinks etc). In order to win on the cards, Froch needs to show Taylor his power in the early rounds, gain Taylor's respect, much like KP was able to do in Pavlik v. Taylor II, and then hustle and win the last few rounds. Does he have the power to gain Taylor's respect? Maybe.

Personally, I'm not sold yet on Froch's chin and power. For Froch, clearly a chin is essential because his defense is abysmal. He couldn't knock out Pascal. Why should we be convinced of his power? Who has he knocked out that has a reputable chin (that wasn't meant to be rhetorical)? Pavlik's power is widely heralded and proved - he was the first person to knock out both Miranda and Taylor.

Taylor has the advantages in speed, experience, and fight location. The safe pick is Taylor.

Interesting fact: Froch was beat by Denis Inkin in the amateurs.