JOE CALZAGHE: CARL FROCH MUST TIGHTEN DEFENCE OR FALL TO MIKKEL KESSLER
By Gareth A Davies
Daily Telegraph
7:06PM BST 19 Oct 2009
UK
Carl Froch, the World Boxing Council super-middleweight champion, has
been warned to tighten his defence or face defeat in his next fight,
against Mikkel Kessler in Copenhagen.
Fist defence: Carl Froch (above) has been told by Joe Calzaghe that
he must tighten up his defence or endure defeat Photo: PA Froch faces
Kessler next spring, after retaining the WBC gong against American
Andre Dirrell in Nottingham on Sunday, but his execution was less
than perfect.
Dirrell made life awkward for 12 rounds, with the British fighter,
clearly the heavier puncher, seemingly unable to trap him on the
ropes. That said, Froch did find a way to win. Yet it was by a
frustrating, wafer-thin margin.
Klitschko set for Johnson bout Joe Calzaghe, the retired former
two-weight world champion, beat Denmark’s Kessler in Cardiff just
under two years ago. Kessler had the Welshman in trouble for the
opening five rounds of their world unification battle.
Calzaghe complimented Froch on his recent successes, but insisted he
must make technical changes in his defence to defeat Kessler.
"Carl has done well. He’s got a lot of heart, he has power and credit
to him for what he’s done. But he’s very vulnerable and doesn’t really
defend too much. If inactivity for a year hasn’t affected Kessler too
badly, he is head and shoulders the best fighter in the tournament."
In Berlin, Jermain Taylor, who suffered concussion after being knocked
out by Germany-based Armenian Arthur Abraham in the closing seconds
of their Super Sixes contest, left hospital on Monday following tests.
The opening Super Six clash drew large television ratings in Germany,
with public free-to-air station ARD recording a peak market share of
almost 40 per cent on late Saturday evening. "That is phenomenal,"
promoter Kalle Sauerland said. "It shows how great the fan interest
is in the Super Six World Boxing Classic."
In Denmark, the fight drew a peak commercial market share of 37.4
percent on TV2. A sell-out crowd of 14,200 witnessed the fight at
the O2 Arena in Berlin.
In the UK, Froch versus Dirrell was shown on a one-off, pay per view
channel, Primetime, on the Sky platform. Discussions were continuing
on Monday for the fight to be replayed this weekend on terrestrial
television.
Elsewhere, WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, after his victory
in California last month against Chris Arreola, will defend the title
again this year against American Kevin Johnson on Dec 12 in Bern.