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Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

poztin

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poztin Newbie

poztin

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/boxing/22699848

 

Deluded? Or in with a legitimate shout?

 

Me personally I give him credit for fighting the best, but he's come up short in nearly all of his big fights.

 

Lost to Ward and (a prime) Kessler. Got gifted a decision against Dirrell on his home turf. Was on his way to losing against Taylor before he got lucky with Taylor running out of gas.

 

"He knows I will be at my best in Britain and he doesn't want to fight me at my best. He wants to fight me when I'm jet-lagged, against the crowd, against the judges and with everything in his favour."

 

Unfortunately Carl, I think Ward holds all of the cards on this one.

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mofo2 Contributor

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/boxing/22699848

 

Deluded? Or in with a legitimate shout?

 

Me personally I give him credit for fighting the best, but he's come up short in nearly all of his big fights.

 

Lost to Ward and (a prime) Kessler. Got gifted a decision against Dirrell on his home turf. Was on his way to losing against Taylor before he got lucky with Taylor running out of gas.

 

"He knows I will be at my best in Britain and he doesn't want to fight me at my best. He wants to fight me when I'm jet-lagged, against the crowd, against the judges and with everything in his favour."

 

Unfortunately Carl, I think Ward holds all of the cards on this one.

Ward most definitely doesn't hold all the cards, he couldn't draw flies to shit and has no World Titles after being stripped and relinquishing the Emeritus belt...Froch has just sold 18000 tickets in 3 hours and has unified two of the titles and could sell out an arena twice the size!

 

What we have here is Ward and his usual reluctance to drop the comfort blanket of fighting to a home crowd and that's after he spouted shit that he would fight Carl in the uk and is now climbing down. Froch has earned the right to dictate venues in the rematch and doesn't need Ward, on the contrary Ward has placed himself on such a pedestal he needs to fight Froch in the UK to stop people believing he has no balls left....he needs Froch more....Froch can make other credible fights and elevate himself even further, Ward most definitely cannot!

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poztin Newbie

poztin

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

Ward most definitely doesn't hold all the cards, he couldn't draw flies to shit and has no World Titles after being stripped and relinquishing the Emeritus belt...Froch has just sold 18000 tickets in 3 hours and has unified two of the titles and could sell out an arena twice the size!

 

What we have here is Ward and his usual reluctance to drop the comfort blanket of fighting to a home crowd and that's after he spouted shit that he would fight Carl in the uk and is now climbing down. Froch has earned the right to dictate venues in the rematch and doesn't need Ward, on the contrary Ward has placed himself on such a pedestal he needs to fight Froch in the UK to stop people believing he has no balls left....he needs Froch more....Froch can make other credible fights and elevate himself even further, Ward most definitely cannot!

 

Froch may be able to draw bigger crowds, but in my personal view you shouldn't dictate terms to the "champion". And yes Ward is the #1 in the division, regardless of alphabet belts.

 

If Froch wants to claim to be #1 he's got to go and take that accolade away from the "champion".

 

I know this is modern boxing and it doesn't work like that these days, but that's just my view on how it should be, so I pay little attention to Froch moaning about having to leave his home comforts.

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robprosser Enthusiast

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

It's a strange one with Froch. I'd consider both Calzaghe, Benn and Hatton amongst others to be superior fighters but to be fair his record is probably better than any of them.

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mofo2 Contributor

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

Froch may be able to draw bigger crowds, but in my personal view you shouldn't dictate terms to the "champion". And yes Ward is the #1 in the division, regardless of alphabet belts.

 

If Froch wants to claim to be #1 he's got to go and take that accolade away from the "champion".

 

I know this is modern boxing and it doesn't work like that these days, but that's just my view on how it should be, so I pay little attention to Froch moaning about having to leave his home comforts.

Froch ain't got to do Jack Shit...he already has the credibility he has deserved for many years and is in complete control of his own destiny, but even if I was to concede that Ward somehow has the right to stay at home ONCE AGAIN which I don't by the way...money talks...and more money will be made for both fighters fighting in the UK, with crowds trebling whatever could be expected to achieve in the US, if Ward actually grew a pair and backed up his mouth by traveling across from the states he gets a bigger payday, so how much more incentive does He need?

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gavpowell Newbie

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

It's a strange one with Froch. I'd consider both Calzaghe, Benn and Hatton amongst others to be superior fighters but to be fair his record is probably better than any of them.

 

Dunno about that - Froch lost a close one to Kessler, lost to Ward by a landslide and got a controversial decision against Dirrell in a fight where Froch looked like a moron.

 

He's beaten Bute and now Kessler, but Calzaghe beat a less-shopworn Kessler first time of asking, won titles in two weight divisions and his beating of Hopkins is improved by Hopkins' subsequent victories.

 

Add to that the domination of Lacy and I think it's a close one. If Froch wins a light heavy title I'd be prepared to bump him above Joe, but as it stands, I think Froch has had the more dignified career, Calzaghe the more successful.

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WelshDevilRob Proficient

WelshDevilRob

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

Interms of being at the Top. Lennox Lewis was there for 11 years from 1992 to 2003. Lewis had two loses in that period but overall I rank him as the No.1 in his division though others like Bowe, Holyfield, Moorer had legit claims.

 

Froch beat Pascal in 2008 and has been at the top of the division for five years. I can't think of a time, during that period, where he was seen as the number 1 in his weight class.

 

Lewis has six more years at the top than Carl.

 

I also don't believe that Froch has wins over a higher calibre of opponents.

 

There are several fighters that I would rate higher than Froch. Nigel Benn, Lloyd Honeyghan and Barry McGuigan.

 

If I had to rate the inorder, the UK's best Super Middleweights:

 

1.Nigel Benn

2.Joe Calzaghe

3.Chris Eubank

4.Carl Froch

5.Steve Collins

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brooklynbrawler Newbie

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

Nigel Benn #1, ahead of Calzaghe?

Nah, not for me...

 

Personally, I think that Froch has the best British Supermiddleweight record on paper already, bar maybe Calzaghe purely because of the fact he stayed unbeaten throughout.

Dirrell may have made him look silly at times, but ultimately, running too often when he should have been countering cost him the bout, and a wins a win at the end of the day.

You still have to step in the ring with quality opposition to have any hope of beating them.

Froch has done just that consistently, since he was given the opportunity to and has steadily improved as he's gone along.

He's never going to be the fastest puncher in the world, so many more versatile and slick boxers can make him look silly for a period, but none can match his workrate or will to win.

 

In terms of natutural ability, then Calzaghe is a million miles ahead of Froch, but many questionable bouts, most notably the Manfredo bout imo, condemn his record to second rate.

 

Throw the record and the ability together and there's not a lot to choose between Calzaghe and Froch.

 

Hatton had some big wins, and only lost to two of the best fighters in the world.

He also had a few gimmes though, which is often overlooked.

I think Froch has beaten his record already, with the Kessler win.

If Froch beats Ward, then I think we can safely say he is one of the great Brit boxers.

Not supremely talented, but unparallelled in what he has done with what he has.

If he loses again, it will be the only black mark on an otherwise successful career.

He won't be classed among the greats, but will still carry plenty of respect for putting together the string of wins that he has.

Funny how one bout can hold so much power over a fighter's legacy....

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Ton Newbie

Ton

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

Who else is there for Froch to fight to elevate his standing even higher? A rematch and victory over Ward would go a long way, but I doubt he'd win that fight, and that's even if it got made.

 

He could move up a weight, but the LH division isn't exactly filled with exciting talent.

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poztin Newbie

poztin

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

Froch beat Pascal in 2008 and has been at the top of the division for five years. I can't think of a time, during that period, where he was seen as the number 1 in his weight class.

 

In short, he never has been.

 

His resume is credible but I just can't see how someone can claim to be the greatest British boxer ever when they've never even been the best in their division. And let's face it there have been some good competitive opposition, but he's hardly had any superstars of the likes of Roy Jones/Hopkins/Mayweather/Pacquiao standing in his way has he?

 

Ward may turn out to be that superstar but I wouldn't put him in that bracket yet.

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BoztheMadman Rising Star

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

You can't have Benn at 1 it makes no sense, other fighters have achieved much more!

 

Nono, not at nr.1 but certainly above that fool Lewis. Highest I can put Nigel is somewhere between 5 and 8.

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gavpowell Newbie

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

I can never decide with Welsh whether he should be condemned for cynically exploiting the belt with no-decision bouts, or whether he should be praised for his cleverness.

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davemurphy Newbie

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Re: Carl Froch: "Only Lennox Lewis rivals me as best British boxer"

 

I can never decide with Welsh whether he should be condemned for cynically exploiting the belt with no-decision bouts, or whether he should be praised for his cleverness.

 

I know exactly what you mean, it's really hard to look at the situation that existed back then and fully judge him, but I'd lean toward cleverness and milking what he could out of it. It was a different time and it's hard to suspend your fight fan sensibilities considering the barnstorming nature of the day, you can make a strong case for either line of thought.

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