By Mark Vester
In his recent Nottingham Post column, former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch takes a look at some of the up and coming super middleweights in the UK. Froch has sparred with Tony Jeffries and and George Groves, who makes his American debut on the Marquez-Diaz undercard on July 31 in Las Vegas. He is impressed with the ring skills of Brian Magee, Paul Smith and James DeGale, who captured gold in the 2008 Olympics.
"I've sparred both Tony Jeffries and George Groves, and I can confirm that, along with the likes of Paul Smith and James DeGale, that the British super-middle weight scene is in good shape," Froch said.
Which of the bunch will rise to the top? Froch is not sure. He sees some strong abilities in all of them. Froch just hopes the boxers will eventually be matched against each other in the ring.
"They all bring their own attributes to the table and are all hungry for the titles, so it's going to be a great period for the boxing fans if they can all overcome politics and face one another," Froch said. "Who would I pick out of the bunch? It's genuinely hard to say. Groves is similar to myself, he likes to fight. Jeffries is a great all-rounder with lots of determination and Olympic medal level ability."
"Brian Magee is a strong southpaw with bags of experience. DeGale's talents took him to an Olympic gold medal and tough Smith showed a lot of grit to beat Dodson with those cuts which might have derailed other fighters. "I'm just glad we have a great bunch of lads who can all keep these islands on the map in the super-middleweight division – a division in which we have always been the major force."
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