The Underappreciation of Carl Froch
Jack Trickett once lamented that if his protégé Michael Brodie, “fell into a barrel full of tits, he’d come out sucking his thumb”.
That wonderful description of the former European super bantamweight boss, a hard luck story if ever there was one, came to mind recently after details broke on the long awaited Carl Froch-Mikkel Kessler dust up.
Originally pencilled in for April 17th, Showtime were coerced into a change of plan after HBO stomped all over that date, lining up heavy duty opposition in a bid to squish their rival’s viewing figures.
A number of Froch fans, expecting to fly to Copenhagen on the 17th to see the clash had taken advantage of early bird tariffs with budget airlines. Last week it was revealed that those poor souls would miss the bout (and the boat come to that) by one week and hundreds of miles after the show was redirected the remote town of Herning on the 24th. Unfortunately for the proactive Froch posse, many of their cheap flights were non-refundable and to make matters worse, Herning just happens to be a bit of a nightmare to get to from the UK.
The loser in all of this of course is Froch, who will now be fighting in front of an almost completely partisan Danish crowd, which could offer a crucial advantage to Kessler in light of the first round of Super Six bouts.
I’m left wondering whether Froch would even manage to clamber out of Trickett’s barrel at all such is the Norfolk man’s misfortune.
Froch could well be the most underappreciated British boxer in history to have held a major version of a world title. Whilst Anglo fight fans yak fondly about the days of Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn, a halcyon era which saw both men’s pro careers play out on terrestrial television, Froch is barely recognisable to the man in the street.
How different it could have been.
Froch was at one time signed to the BBC, yep you heard that right, old Auntie used to screen world class boxing back in the day, well, until Audley Harrison ruined it for everyone anyway. Heck folk used to ask me about the Nottingham puncher before he even made my radar.Incredibly, the Beeb took their eye off Froch and another young fighter, David Haye, to place all of their eggs in the Audley basket and once the big guy revealed himself to be the biggest white elephant this side of the millennium dome, they pulled the plug.
Froch ended up toiling away on ITV against little known opposition and usually at an ungodly hour, all the while convinced he was just one win away from the big one, a fight with Welsh whirling dervish, Joe Calzaghe. ‘The Cobra’s’ increasingly desperate overtures to Calzaghe quickly marked him out as a potential nearly man, the perennial bridesmaid. Whilst Froch battled the obscure Albert Rybacki (the Polish ‘Quiet Man’….gulp), Calzaghe was padding his pension against the likes of Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, bolstering his reputation whilst all the while scoffing at Froch’s claims he was being ducked. Beat someone decent and earn yourself a fight was Joe’s retort.
Just as Froch managed to do this however, in a pulsating donnybrook with Jean Pascal for the WBC super middleweight title, Calzaghe was hanging up his mitts and the fight which could have propelled Froch to stardom disappeared. Nevertheless, now a world titlist, the Norfolk man set out to make the world take notice anyway. Only no-one was watching.
His next bout in April 2009 wasn’t even televised live in the UK, another wonderful fight, this one with former middleweight king, Jermain Taylor. Froch pulled out a win every bit as exciting as any Benn and Eubank mustered, yet if Taylor had fallen in a forest, would he have made a sound?
Next up came the Super Six tournament, THE boxing story of 2009 and Froch was part of it. Unbelievably however, television companies in the UK were not, Carl’s first round bout with Andre Dirrell went out instead on fledgling pay-per-view channel Primetime. Despite oodles of publicity, the show was reported to have returned a paltry 20, 000 buys, an absolute travesty in relative terms.
As Froch readies himself for the ‘Viking Warrior’ from Scandanavia, it appears that he’ll be shunned by the big domestic networks once more, a disgrace when one considers the quality of the fight we have in prospect. ‘The Cobra’ rolls onward regardless, unloved, unnoticed and unappreciated, hoping that his next win will win him a place in his countrymen’s hearts.
6 comments on “The Underappreciation of Carl Froch”
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Hey Haz how are you doing. Been busy lately and haven’t had much of a chance to check in. Yeah I agree with you 100% about Froch. The British public and media alike should adore this man, but for some reason he doesn’t have their full backing. Maybe if he stayed at home and defended his title against the Tocker Pudwills of this world he’d get a bit more recognition eh?
Hey mate, not bad, how’s things? Did you check out the Murray-Fagan card the other week?
Froch’s a bit of an objectionable so and so but it’s bizarre to see a fighter at his level basically being ignored by the British public, maybe fans have been spoiled over the past 10-15 years?
I’m gutted I’ll not be going over, I’d banked on the 17th and the ticket prices are something else again, very pricey. I’m also struggling to see a Froch win right now, he looks made for Kessler (although I keep saying that and he keeps winning!!).
I’m doing well mate. Didn’t get to see the Murray/Fagan card live but I watched it on TV.
I think Ward beating Kessler was the worst thing that could have happened to Froch, as the Dane will not only be looking to win, but to prove a point.
I wouldn’t write Froch out though, not by a long shot. He’s one of these fighters who just finds a way to win, no matter how ugly or unimpressive it may be.
Looking forward to it though. Should be a cracker.
I heard Andy Murray talking up a fight with John, his namesake. That’d give the promoters a bit of a headache, bit like when the three Diaz’s topped the lightweight ranks!!
Froch-Kessler looks even money right now, Kessler was awful last time out yet should be able to find Froch way more easily than he did Ward. Froch’s hitting his peak however whereas Kessler looked faded last time out, he’s had a lot of fights.
Damn shame terrestrial tv can’t screen this one live.
Think Primetime are showing it aren’t they? They’ve shown all the Super Six fights so far and were set to show Abraham/Dirrell before it was postponed.
Murray v Murray would be a cracker. My money is on Murray.
Speaking of John Murray, is there a better domestic fight right now than Murray v Mitchell? Barker v Macklin is the only one that I can think of that rivals it. Of course, neither fight will happen because those bouts sound just too good to be true. It says it all when us boxing fans are conditioned to expect the best fights not to happen.
Still though, Mitchell v Katsidis is certainly nothing to be sniffed at.
Primetime are showing it yes Dave, Hennessy’s lack of a tv deal is a nightmare and looks as though it’s hampering his fighters. John Murray’s next fight will apparently take place in the States (Mezaache may or may not be the opponent) which really bums me out, my plans for attending cards are going up in smoke so far this year.
I’m desperate to see Murray-Mitchell however I can’t see Warren risking his man unless Murray can pick up a lightweight title. At the rate he’s moving, that could be a long shot.
To make matters even worse, Mitchell-Katsidis could happen in Oz rather than London. How annoying!!
Still, I have Haye-Ruiz to look forward to, shame the undercard is looking tepid, I was hoping Golden Boy were going to supply some talent.