Saturday night was Carl Froch’s long awaited world title shot opportunity, for the vacant super-middle weight WBC belt. Standing in his way, was the super-fit and super-confident Jean Pascal. Earlier at the weigh-in, Froch and Pascal had exchanged words and Froch was the first to break the stare leading a lot to believe his was apprehensive for the fight. Apparently Carl Froch used to have a lot of problems with nerves before a fight during his career in the amateurs.
When the bell sounded for the first round, the action started immediately with Froch counter attacking with a combination of punches that pushed Pascal back into the ropes. Pascal was fast however and both fighters traded and landed huge punches. When Froch landed his punches he seemed to pause momentarily as though he was expecting Pascal to drop to the canvas (as 19 of his previous opponents have) which left him open to big shots.
Generally I was disappointed with Froch’s defense and head movement, and he seemed to get caught hard with a lot of unnecessary shots over his low guard. However it was unbelievably entertaining to watch as he demonstrated an iron chin and returned hard shots of his own.
Towards the end of the fight, Froch began to take a lead on what was previously a close fought battle. Pascal seemed to tire (unsurprisingly based on the frantic first 3 rounds), and as his face became more swollen his work rate dropped and allowed Froch to take control. At the end of the fight both fighters raised their hands, but there was one clear winner. Carl Forch had fulfilled his ambition of becoming world champion and in front of an exstatic home crowd in Nottingham. The doors have now finally opened for him to attain superstar status that he has been trying to attain after years of chasing a fight with Calzaghe. I would hope for his next fight he steps into the ring with someone like Mikkel Kessler or Kelly Pavlik for a big name fight.
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Posted in: Boxing News
Tags: carl froch, jean pascal, wbc title fight
