By Cliff Rold (photo by Jim Everett/FightWireImages)
Joe Calzaghe is gone. Ricky Hatton may be closer to the end than it seems right now. Clearly, British boxing can use its next big star to step up to their level…maybe even fill their shoes. This Saturday night at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, live on Showtime in the U.S., WBC 168 lb. titlist Carl Froch gets a big opportunity to make his way up the economic ladder.
Former undisputed World Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor promises to be a difficult rung to pass. Back in winning form after two losses to current Middleweight king Kelly Pavlik, Taylor bounced back with a wide unanimous decision over his 2000 Olympic teammate Jeff Lacy last November to set up a shot at his second title in as many divisions.
This one might not be getting the hype, but in a Super Middleweight class loaded with interesting matches and proven talents, this bout has all the elements to be a worthy brawl.
Let’s go to the report card.
The Ledgers
Carl Froch
Age: 31
Title: WBC Super Middleweight
Height: 6’0
Hails from: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
Record: 24-0, 19 KO
Record in Title Fights: 1-0
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 1 (Robin Reid)
Vs.
Jermain Taylor
Age: 30
Title: None
Height: 6’1
Hails from: Little Rock, Arkansas
Record: 28-2-1, 17 KO
Record in Title Fights: 4-2-1, 1 KOBY
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 6 (Raul Marquez, William Joppy, Bernard Hopkins, Kassim Ouma, Cory Spinks, Jeff Lacy)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists faced in Defeat or Draw: 2 (Winky Wright
Pre-Fight Grades
Speed: Taylor B; Froch B-
Power: Taylor B; Froch B
Defense: Taylor B-; Froch C+
Intangibles: Froch B+; Taylor B-
If the fight comes down to pure physical tools, it’s probably to be assumed Taylor will be strapping on a new belt. It plays into one of the mistakes made in analyzing Taylor. It’s been said of him through his career that he’s a good athlete.
Watch closely and Taylor actually has holes athletically. After all these years, he’s still rigid and robotic, his feet still often clumsy and body overextended when he misses his telegraphed right hands. Where he gets by is that he has decent hand speed to mitigate some of his other flaws and, when concentrating, he can throw hard straight blows. On his way up the ranks, a powerful left jab set up a right hand which, while often stuttered as if in a wind up, would then extend in a line. The lines are his bread and butter this weekend.
Froch fights often with his hands at or below his waist, counting on foot and head movement to avoid danger while setting up flurries. It has worked thus far but the problems in the posture showed up when Froch picked up a then-vacant belt against Jean Pascal late last year. In a war, Froch was caught with a number of flush, hard shots for no other reason than a refusal to have his hands in place to do anything about them. He won the bout, but can he afford to be as open with Taylor?
Particularly since moving into the sphere of elite competition, Taylor’s knockout percentage has reduced to…well, he hasn’t knocked anyone out at the elite level. The only bout of his which has ended early since 2005 was the first Pavlik bout and it was Taylor who ended the night on the floor. This can be misleading though; Taylor possesses right hand power as he showed in almost toppling Pavlik early in their first bout. While it’s still head scratching that he lost either fight, Bernard Hopkins certainly respected the right enough to play cautious early while Taylor lobbed bombs his way.
If Froch allows himself to be hit with the right, or the sneaky short left Taylor works in as well, he can be hurt. He probably will be hurt.
That could be where the fight turns.
There remains a question about Taylor which has nothing to do with what he does in the ring but how he approaches it. Now some nine years as a pro, Taylor has a slim number of fights, something which may have played into his lack of progression past where he was in 2004 and 2005. It appears, so far, that he was as good then as he was ever going to be and a lack of serious developmental activity has to be seen as a factor. It’s to his credit that many of the fights he’s had in the last few years have been against quality competition but does he really like Boxing? Does he have the sort of kill or be killed mentality that can work him through a war?
Against Pascal, Froch proved he does. Both men took turns stunning the other but it was always Froch who found a way to accelerate and maintain control of the bout. He’ll need that sort of dogged determination on Saturday because he hasn’t shown the sort of one-punch power a Pavlik had. To win, Froch has to be prepared to go rounds. While neither is a defensive genius, Taylor will be harder to hit than Froch; he keeps his hands higher and tighter. Froch will need will as much as skill.
The Pick
Froch would seem to be a strong upset pick, but the lax defense stands out as a sign of bad things to come. Taylor, despite flaws, is not a bad fighter and inviting him to land his right hand is not a good idea for anyone. Froch will fight hard, and is live going in, but will alone doesn’t stop power and Taylor should score his first stoppage in years sometime from the sixth round forward.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
