Comments Thread For: Froch’s Rematch Ultimatum Leads To Larger Questions

[jlcelestine]

This article hits the nail on the head and I will say what I have said before I am old school and still believe if you hold a world title belt you know and work by the rules of the orginaisation and not the organisation around your agends. Froch new he wanted the re-matches with Kessler,Bute and Ward so instead of defending his titl against Stevenson in October he chose Mack not even ranked in the top 15 (which should never of been santioned but anyway) now he expects the No 1 contender to step aside again while he pursues his own agenda under the banner of the IBF - enough is enough if you want to hoid the belt fight the number 1 contender because you would expect that if the roles were reversed - if you don't hold enough respect and integrity relinquish the belt and leave it to those who will respect the honour of been there world champion - Now let all the Froch fans come out of the woodwork and have a go at me I can take it - Froch has no honour or dignity everthing wrong with todays sports man a waste of time and space.

I agree with everything here, except the part about Froch's lack of honor. I said this in another thread, that if the IBF lets Froch fight Kessler, and Froch wins, then what happens when Bute wants his rematch after that fight? Stevenson, the #1 contender who has paid his sanctioning fees, has to sit out, or risk fighting someone else, and losing that fight and his ranking. The Kessler fight can wait. Get your mandatory out of the way first and THEN fight your optional defense. that is how it supposed to work, and that is how it should work. The only exception should be title unifications. And since Ward is the 168lb WBA champion, this is not a unification. You dont unify interem, regular, diamond, and fighter of the decade belts.

[Tonyu]

Thanks everyone who responded to my e-mail I have only just logged back on and I thought everyone would misunderstand and I was right - let mespell it out as simplest as I can - If I had a choice I would want Froch v Kessler instead of Froch v Stevenson but the point is we will always want fights what we would prefer to see but that is not the point- the point is Stevenson is the No1 contender (fact) we can have an opinion should he be or should he not be but the fact is he is!!!!!- now saying that Froch is IBF world champ and he needs to fight the No1 and not use the belt as his personal bargaining chip Kessler will be there in June/July so do the honourable thing and fight Stevenson - if you can't play by the rules relinquish the belt and let others respect it - he fought Mack in October (why oh why) and now he has a commitment to face up to - if you want to relinquish because the IBF ar'nt catering to you demands then go away and just do it- it is as simple as that - I REST MY CASE.

[ddangerous]

Froch worked his way up the hard way, he wants to take another hard fight in Kessler and become a bona fide star of UK boxing (something that has eluded him for years).

Bingo. At this stage in Froch's career, Kessler is the obvious choice of who he should fight next. **** the sanctioning bodies and **** Stevenson, he's a POS anyway.

[Tonyu]

to The WEEBLER II - It's fine to take that point of view but then give up the belt nobody is bigger than the sport- sorry I can't agree with this Mack was his easy option now he has to honour the rules - Kessler will be their in June/July.

[cameltoe]

Thanks everyone who responded to my e-mail I have only just logged back on and I thought everyone would misunderstand and I was right - let mespell it out as simplest as I can - If I had a choice I would want Froch v Kessler instead of Froch v Stevenson but the point is we will always want fights what we would prefer to see but that is not the point- the point is Stevenson is the No1 contender (fact) we can have an opinion should he be or should he not be but the fact is he is!!!!!- now saying that Froch is IBF world champ and he needs to fight the No1 and not use the belt as his personal bargaining chip Kessler will be there in June/July so do the honourable thing and fight Stevenson - if you can't play by the rules relinquish the belt and let others respect it - he fought Mack in October (why oh why) and now he has a commitment to face up to - if you want to relinquish because the IBF ar'nt catering to you demands then go away and just do it- it is as simple as that - I REST MY CASE.

Yes, but you seem to not completely grasp the fact that Froch IS willing to relinquish to fight Kessler.

If he wants to keep the strap, yes, fight the mandatory, but what he really wants is Kessler, his legacy is more important than a belt, and that's admirable. Froch and Hearn have pretty much said this in recent interviews, so you're almost starting an argument with yourself.

I agree that the sanctioning bodies should have a common list of top tens. Personally I'd
prefer it if we could just have one champ per division, like the old school. You're no longer THE champ of your division, you're A champ, one of a few. How are you supposed to explain that to your Nan round the dinner table? How is poor Kessler supposed
to explain to his aunty Mabel that he's not really THE champ at 168 at all, like she's been telling all her friends, nor is he actually the WBA champ, in reality.

[jlcelestine]

Yes, but you seem to not completely grasp the fact that Froch IS willing to relinquish to fight Kessler.

If he wants to keep the strap, yes, fight the mandatory, but what he really wants is Kessler, his legacy is more important than a belt, and that's admirable. Froch and Hearn have pretty much said this in recent interviews, so you're almost starting an argument with yourself.

I agree that the sanctioning bodies should have a common list of top tens. Personally I'd
prefer it if we could just have one champ per division, like the old school. You're no longer THE champ of your division, you're A champ, one of a few. How are you supposed to explain that to your Nan round the dinner table? How is poor Kessler supposed
to explain to his aunty Mabel that he's not really THE champ at 168 at all, like she's been telling all her friends, nor is he actually the WBA champ, in reality.

Poor Mabel...........

[TheThirdEye]

BoxRec News:
In Atlantic City on February 16th the winner of Bika-Sjekloca will be mandated to fight Canada-based Romanian Lucian Bute within 90 days.
The final winner of this tournament will become the mandatory opponent to face Andre Ward for the WBC title.

► Why did I mention that ?
It’s only to make you understand why, in my opinion; I believe Mikkel Kessler’s not thrilled with the idea of fighting Carl Froch for a second time.

■1) They fought already, and Kessler won.
■2) Kessler never did an optional defence of his WBA title; (On the long term, Is a fight against Froch is profitable enough)
■3) Economically, Kessler need to think seriously about the opportunity cost in case his scenario goes wrong.
■4) The fight has to be done in Manchester UK, not in Nottingham.
■5) According the fact that Froch is clearly ducking Stevenson, Kessler know that Froch needs him. Means Kessler can easely request to increase the amount initially proposed of 2 millions to 4 millions with a clear garanty of getting this purse, victory or not…
■6) For Kessler, the IBF title has to be on the table with NO EXTRA CONDITION.

(NO EXTRA CONDITION) Which means,
► Like the WBC situation, if there’s a Kessler-Froch 2 with both WBA & IBF on the line, I believe the winner will be mandated to fight Canada-based Haitian Adonis Stevenson within 90 days.
This condition, could be a policy from the IBF governing body.
So Froch must accept, Kessler must accept & the WBA must accept too.

The unfortunate thing about this, was that Froch or Kessler could end up bypassing Stevenson a second time if a Froch-Kessler 2 happens, because both fighters wants to fight WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward.
► But Andre Ward is injured and out of the competition for the next 9 months. So they will not be able to maneuver around IBF mandatory challenger Adonis Stevenson for the next 9 month…

Would Kessler accept the risk to fight Stevenson after Froch, would he ?

■ Because if Kessler accepts the desperate proposal of Eddie Hearn, it will be the equivalent of accepting to face Froch and Stevenson within one interval of 6 months, with a purse discount…

So Kessler, is it really worth it…
Carl Froch, stop ducking like a chicken; Adonis Stevenson is Faster ►►►