Taylor Vs Froch: Rise Of The Super Middleweight

Super middleweight is boxing’s new glamour division.  Don’t believe me?  Make sure to tune in to Showtime Saturday night to see the contest between Carl Froch and Jermain Taylor.  Froch holds the WBC version of the championship and Taylor is the number one contender.  It truly promises to be one of the best fights of the year.  With two of the best fighters from the best division, how could it not be?

The super middleweight division has only been in existence for about twenty five years, so the history of the division is not as rich as its bookends, middleweight and light heavyweight.  Old-school purists will scoff, but anyone who loves boxing should take notice.  Boxing enthusiasts are always looking to promote something that will put the sweet science back into the limelight.  Believe me, I won’t get a penny from Showtime for singing their praises, but kudos to them for carrying Froch vs. Taylor.

A few years ago, there was a buzz about the welterweight division and how it was stacked from top to bottom.  Since then, Antonio Margarito has been suspended, Paul Williams now fights in the two weight classes north of welter, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has retired (although a return seems imminent), Zab Judah is moving back down, and so on and so on. 

Super middleweight is absolutely loaded!  The division is legitimately fifteen deep with men who can all fight each other and produce world-class fights.  Even with the retirement of Joe Calzaghe, the division still boasts names like Lucian Bute, Librado Andrade, Dennis Inkin, Markus Beyer, Sakio Bika, Allan Green, Andre Ward, Edison Miranda, Andre Dirrell, Jean Pascal and Mikkel Kessler.  If that’s not enough, it seems likely that both Kelly Pavlik and Arthur Abraham will be moving up in weight as well.  What’s more is, that I list didn’t even include the two would-be combatants, Froch and Taylor. 

One thing that most fans agree with is that styles make fights.  These two men, Froch and Taylor, have similar styles in that they’re in there to fight.  They both come forward and throw punches.  They both have tremendous skills, and though he holds his left hand a bit low, I think Froch is just a little bit slicker than he probably gets credit for.  He catches a lot of punches on his shoulder.  For his part, Taylor has a piston-like jab that he shoots from his hip…if he decides to use it.

The fight on Saturday represents Jermain Taylor’s second fight at super middleweight.  Froch has fought his whole career in the division.  There can be, however, no question that Taylor has fought superior competition.  It’s not even close in that department.  Taylor has been fighting world-class fighters for years.  He has two victories over a pound-for-pound nominee and future hall-of-famer, Bernard Hopkins and a draw with one of the most avoided fighters in the game, Winky Wright.

Froch won his WBC belt be defeating Pascal in an all-out war last December after Calzaghe vacated it.  The Froch-Pascal fight was mentioned as a possible fight-of-the-year candidate. A strong case can be made that Pascal was indeed the toughest opponent that Froch has faced to this date.  A mistake that one shouldn’t make is in over-valuing a win over Pascal.  He’s athletic, fast and punches with power, but he’s not that polished.  With that said, Taylor represents the toughest challenge to the aspirations of Froch.

For the fight itself, look for fast-paced action.  Both of these men give as well as they take.  Both of these men have tremendous skills.  As I mentioned earlier, Froch has some skills and is and blocks more punches than he gets credit for.  Taylor is faster and will want to set the pace.  He’ll be looking to pump his jab, feint, get in and get out and try to set Froch up for some overhand rights. 

Froch is the naturally bigger man and is used to fighting men at this weight class.  I think the size difference will be telling as the fight wears on.  In his battle with Pascal, Froch absorbed some hellacious blows, but always had an answer.  We’ve seen that Taylor can be hurt as evidenced in his two fights with Pavlik.

Our good fortune as fans is that both of these men like to get in the last punch.  The fight should start fast and will escalate each time they get into a heated exchange.  Watch Saturday as two super middleweights ignite the division.