“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
On 24th April 2010, two enemies engaged in a boxing ring in Herning, Denmark as part of the Super Six: World Boxing Classic tournament.
Unbeaten British WBC super middleweight world champion Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch travelled to the home country of the ‘Viking Warrior’, Mikkel Kessler in a hotly anticipated clash.
Kessler had previously gone the distance with Joe Calzaghe, a man many consider as one of, if not the, greatest fighters the 168lb division has ever seen, in a unanimous points defeat.
Froch had become world champion by outclassing unbeaten Canadian Jean Pascal eighteen-months previously.
What unfolded in Herning that night is still viewed as one of the most intense battles of recent years. The action sparked into life around halfway through and for the second half of the fight the two warriors traded punches as if their lives depended on it.
At the end, it was Kessler’s hand that was raised in triumph. To this day Carl Froch remains haunted by that first professional defeat.
Now, three years later, the pair will go to war again this Saturday, at London’s magnificent O2 arena.
Such was the public excitement about this rematch, an incredible 19,000 tickets sold out in around three hours when they went on sale in January.
As most boxers and fans will tell you, styles make fights. It’s why some fights don’t sell well, or attract poor viewing figures.
In the case of Kessler and Froch, it’s why you can guarantee it will be a night to remember.
It’s not very often that two fighters meet who are prepared to put it all on the line in the ring. The instincts and mental toughness of both men means that defeat is simply not an option. Both would rather stand and fight and go out on their shield than withdraw when the battle gets tough.
In Carl Froch, Britain have a world champion to be proud of.
The most irritating part of being a boxing fan is the number of fights that never happen.
This can be for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes rival promotors refuse to cooperate, sometimes fighters avoid each other.
In Froch, you get the feeling that he would happily have fought Mikkel Kessler for free, in Kessler’s back yard, in order to avenge the loss of that treasured ‘0’ on his record.
A warrior like Froch was always unlikely to go through his career unbeaten however. There has seldom been a man who is prepared to take on the best in the division in quick succession, often fighting in enemy territory, as Carl.
The run of opponents on his record since winning the world crown is quite incredible, and The Cobra stands up against any other fighter in history for sheer balls.
The aforementioned Calzaghe seldom left the comfort of his South Wales base, and as good as Joe was, and he WAS incredible, you do wonder if his record would have remained 46-0 had he fought the likes of Roy Jones Jr five years previously.
Sadly the nature of being a Brit means that, in the eyes of most of the public, if you aren’t a glorious success in everything you do, you’re a failure.
It’s the same reason why Amir Khan is criticised for being knocked out on a couple of occasions. Never mind that he became Olympic champion in 2000, or that he was considered good enough for legendary trainer Freddie Roach to take him under his wing.
Carl Froch has had an even more remarkable rise to the top. He never had the glamour of winning an Olympic medal to catapult him onto the back pages before he’d laced up a glove in the pro ranks.
The majority of his fights have been tucked away either on terrestrial television at obscure hours, or on PPV channels like Primetime, meaning few outside of the hardcore boxing fraternity knew who he was before joining forces with Eddie Hearn at Matchroom, and gaining a wider audience on Sky Sports.
It’s fitting that now, in his 36th year, he’s getting the attention that his hard work deserves. I would even go as far as to suggest that he is the best form of Carl Froch that I’ve ever seen.
There are few fighters who deserve the attention and respect as much as Froch. A committed family man, Froch lives for his family. A family that has recently grown with the addition of baby Natalia, to add to son Rocco, and fiancé Rachael.
Froch is so dedicated to his sport that his ‘walking’ weight is virtually identical to his fighting weight. He rarely drinks, has never touched drugs, and looks after his body, getting his kicks from spending time with his brood, rather than falling out of nightclubs in the early hours.
A win on Saturday will surely mean that Carl is rightly viewed as one of the finest these shores have produced. It could be argued that he might not beat Joe Calzaghe had the pair fought, but Carl’s legacy tramples all over that of the Welshman in my opinion.
Since that night in Denmark, Carl has fought 44 rounds, beating several other top 10 ranked fighters including an incredible demolition of unbeaten Canadian Lucian Bute last May; and his one other defeat came at the hands of the current 168lb king Andre Ward, a man who also beat Mikkel Kessler.
Kessler himself has boxed just 13 rounds since defeating Carl three years ago. A succession of injuries, one particular eye wound caused by Froch, have meant that Mikkel has been unable to be as active as Carl, with Kessler even being knocked down by relative journeyman Allan Green.
It all adds up to a fascinating encounter. There have been few fights as hotly anticipated as this.
Live on Sky Box Office, it’s an event that for any sports fan will be worth the money.
And I guarantee that Carl Froch will be the feature of many a back page come Sunday morning, as a new working class hero gets his just desserts.
COME ON THE COBRA!
Mark McBurney's Blog 