Froch Vs. Kessler Vs. The Volcano

Boxing matches getting cancelled anywhere along the line from the time of conception, to the time the contract is signed, all the way to the weigh-in are nothing new.  But a fight almost being cancelled due to an active volcanic eruption is new to me. 

Probably sometime throughout the history of man, an organized, perhaps professional fight had been cancelled due to an eruption.  The eruption of Mount Saint Helens comes to mind as a possible time in recent history when a fight could have been cancelled.  

I don’t know I’m just guessing. 

Maybe the eruption of Krakatau, the Indonesian volcano that erupted in 1883 and covered most of the earth in ash caused the cancellation of a professional fight.  John L. Sullivan was champion at that time, maybe one of his fights were cancelled.  Being that Krakatau is in Indonesia, it could be a better than even bet that a professional fight was cancelled, what with the rich fighting history of that country.

But thank goodness for fight fans, that scenario has been averted and hopefully, on a much more serious note, everyone in Iceland and Europe in general, is okay and that their lives will soon return to normalcy.  It has been reported that the Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler fight will go on as planned this Saturday in Denmark.  That’s great news for folks who love all-action fights.

Froch vs. Kessler should be, dare I say, volcanic.

This fight has the makings of a classic.  Both men come forward and are powerful punchers, yet neither is the most elusive fighter in the world.  They will both be there to be hit; perhaps Froch a little more since he keeps his left hand so low.

Kessler has much to prove after his last outing, a lopsided loss to Andre Ward.  He wasn’t only beaten, but beaten up.  Ward, whom I think is probably the best super middle weight fighter in the world, looked to have gone to the Bernard Hopkins school of boxing; he was crafty and got away with borderline tactics, while Kessler seemed unable to adjust and adapt.

Yet for Kessler, redemption may be right around the corner.  Thanks to the format of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, he is fighting for Froch’s WBC championship only several months removed from the loss to Ward.

As for Froch, he’s coming off a somewhat disputed win against Andre Dirrell.  It wasn’t the prettiest fight and although I do believe Froch won, a case could be for either fighter in that contest.  However, if young Dirrell had fought the entire fight the way he did the last three rounds, or his entire fight with Arthur Abraham for that matter, it wouldn’t have even been in question.     

Froch escaped with his belt against Dirrell, needed a knockout in the 12th round to defeat Jermain Taylor and was nip and tuck for an entire twelve rounds with Jean Pascal.  What this tells me is that while Froch isn’t dominant, he is a winner and his confidence should be sky high. 

There aren’t too many fighters that win three fights in a row these days over world-class opponents with no soft touches in between.  Froch should be given credit for that and he doubtlessly with come at Kessler no different than he did any of his three previous opponents.

It should be another great matchup in the action-packed super middle weight division and my guess is that it will end in a knockout.

As for who will get their hand raised in victory, I’m taking a hiatus from picking an outright winner after I incorrectly predicted Kelly Pavlik would knock out Sergio Martinez.  I need to regroup and re-focus for next week’s major fight. 

As a side note as it relates to Pavlik vs. Martinez, I think it’s time for Pavlik to move up in weight and join in the in the super middle weight division and it’s also time for Sergio Martinez to be recognized as a top pound-for-pound fighter.  I’m not smart enough to have a top ten list, but it seems to me that any pound-for pound list would have Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Chad Dawson, Martinez, and six other guys.