Carl Froch: “Manny Pacquiao’s performance against Mayweather was so weak, that I think Amir Khan would beat him”

Former three time super middleweight champion, Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch officially retired from the ring earlier this year and became a full time announcer with Sky Sports. In part 1 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Carl Froch, I get his views on the Klitschko vs. Fury result and what he thinks will happen in the rematch. Froch also gives his thoughts on the Lucian Bute- James DeGale fight and talks about where DeGale goes next. Additionally, Carl speaks on a potential Manny Pacquiao vs. Amir Khan fight and gives his thoughts on who would win that fight. Here is what Carl Froch had to say.

Jenna J: Tyson Fury recently upset Wladimir Klitschko. You as a Sky Sports commentator, what did you see in that fight?

Carl Froch: Yeah it was a great result and a fascinating fight in terms of what was going to happen round after round. I was expecting Klitschko to do a lot more and I think after round six I thought, “Okay now he’s gotta come forward and throw more shots,” and he just didn’t do it.

Fury was able to sort of maintain his elusive movement and stick in a bit of showboating and just took the play away from Klitschko and left Klitschko sort of puzzled to the point of not throwing any punches. It was a strange one to watch but fascinating. It was an edge of your seat fight because you always thought something was gonna happen and towards the end of the fight Tyson got a right hand flush on his chin, which he was fine with, and the last couple of rounds it livened up, but it was just a bit messy.

It wasn’t a classic, it wasn’t Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe by no stretch of the imagination but it was a fantastic result for British boxing, great result for Tyson, he’s now the undisputed heavyweight champion and I think he’ll grow from this and get better for it.

We’ll see what matches are made moving forward. There’s Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua moving forward, so there’s a couple of options. Great result, Fury deserved the win and he got the win and I think I’m now hearing that the rematch is on, so we’ll see how that unfolds.

Jenna J: Do you think Klitschko can do anything different in the rematch to change the result?

Carl Froch: I think Klitschko could do a lot different, he can throw more punches for a start, just let the right hand go when he’s in range. He backed Fury up, put him in corners, put him against the ropes but never pulled the trigger. Sometimes he threw the punch and then pulled it before it landed, that was very extraordinary to watch, I don’t even know what was happening when he did that.

Klitschko could do a lot different, he could up the work rate and throw more punches but whatever stopped him from doing that in the first fight, I don’t know how that’s gonna change in the rematch. I think Fury got inside his head the first time and he’ll do the same again the second time and I think Fury will improve from the first fight and make it even harder and more awkward for Klitschko. I think it will be the same result, I think Fury wins on points.

I don’t think Fury can hurt Klitschko and knock him out because he’s not a massive puncher, so unless he walks onto one, I think it’s another win for Fury in the rematch. Although it sounds like I’m contradicting myself, Klitschko can do a lot different to get the win but it’s whether or not he will. I don’t see how he’s gonna change his mindset in the rematch and all of the sudden go in there and start letting go of the right hand.
From a fighters experience, if you’re worried about something in the first fight, are you gonna put that to bed and exorcise those demons after that result? Probably not, it’s gonna get worse for him. I can only see one winner when they fight, and I don’t think the winner is boxing, the winner was British boxing and Tyson Fury who is now the undisputed heavyweight champion, but I don’t think the rematch does much for anyone.

I don’t think the rematch is exciting, they’re talking about Wembley stadium and I disagree that it sells out Wembley stadium but I may be left to eat my words but I don’t think people are talking about the fight and they’re not excited about it. I’m not sure where it goes, it may end up back in Germany. I’d be backing Fury to win because I don’t know what Klitschko is going to do differently to what he did in the first fight.

It’s interesting because Fury actually said he feels he let Klitschko win the first fight. There’s a post fight interview where he said, “I think he let me win for the rematch, because he wasn’t throwing enough punches,” I thought that was quite honest of Fury but it doesn’t make any sense, it’s all a bit confusing from my standpoint.

Jenna J: Another fight on the British boxing scene was the bout between James DeGale and Lucian Bute. What did you think of the result?

Carl Froch: Yeah it’s a great result, he beat an ex world champion that’s proven himself at a decent level for quite a few years before he got “Cobra’d” and I say that because since getting beat by me, he’s not been the same. Bute had a loss against Pascal then he had a couple of wins at a heavier weight and he’s not really beat anybody to say that he’s back.

I think Bute boxed well, he went twelve rounds with DeGale, which sort of exposes his punching power and his ability to close the show late on in terms of upping the pressure and upping the work rate because he didn’t do that.

I think it was a decent enough win for DeGale to sort of establish himself a little bit more as a world champion in what I feel now with me retiring and Kessler retiring, Abraham reaching the end of his career, and Andre Ward moving up to light heavyweight, I think it’s quite a weak division at the moment.

Boxing is all about timing and at the minute the timing is quite good for James DeGale to call himself probably he best of the bunch. Badou Jack is a good little talent but I don’t think he could have mixed it in the Super Six Tournament, I don’t think he would have done very well in that. It’s a good enough win for DeGale but he’s not set the world alight.

Jenna J: I want to get your commentators view on a fight that may happen in April, Manny Pacquiao vs. Amir Khan, what do you think happens?

Carl Froch: I think Amir Khan does the job, I think he’s too young, fresh, he’s got a high work rate. As long as he doesn’t walk into a shot, he will be okay. Even if he does walk into a shot, I don’t think Pacquiao is the man he used to be, he’s been beat a couple of times now and he lost a fight which was pretty much a no contest against Mayweather.

Pacquiao’s value to me has dropped, even though he will always be a big name and he will always have some value when he fights. I think with that fight against Mayweather, it’s almost time to hang his gloves up, dare I say. But if he wants to keep fighting and carry on, then he’s well within his right to do that. Me as a boxing fan, it’s not a fight I’m excited about. His performance against Floyd Mayweather was so weak, it’s just not an exciting fight for me. I think Khan does the job and does the job well.