Final take on Froch/Taylor

'The Cobra' probably could have held out for a far less taxing assignment in his native Nottingham for a first defence but all credit to him for crossing the pond and taking on one Jermain Taylor in America.

Taylor, of course, holds two wins over Bernard Hopkins and while losses to Kelly Pavlik took the shine off the former undisputed middleweight kingpin somewhat he showed in comprehensively outboxing Jeff Lacy last time out that there is some left in the tank.

I admit at his very best Taylor is an athletic, aggressive box-fighter with power in both hands. He is not noted as a puncher but a KO ratio approaching 60 per cent is not to sniffed at, particularly when you consider he has been boxing in world-class company for at least the last five years.

He is a body-beautiful type but unlike someone like Frank Bruno, for instance, his physique doesn't seem to hinder his movement and he has a nice, relaxed, fluid style.

Physically he has all the tools but there have been questions raised about him mentally and there is a school of thought (my opinion too) that suggests his heart is no longer in the game.

While middleweight champion he failed to dazzle against both Kassim Ouma and Cory Spinks and more than one of his former trainers levelled accusations about a lack of desire at this level.

Such accusations cannot be levelled at Froch, one of the most dedicated and driven professionals in the sport right now.

'The Cobra' lives a monastic lifestyle and is just desperate to prove himself as the best of his generation. He was genuinely gutted when domestic rival Joe Calzaghe called time on his career earlier this year but with Calzaghe out the way Froch is now determined to secure his own legacy in the pantheon of British greats.

To do this he needs to beat men such as Taylor and while the layers make him a marginal underdog in Connecticut, I fancy him STRONGLY to do the business.

Froch is a year older than Taylor at 31 but has far fewer miles on the clock and he will be the bigger man on the night (seeing the pair square up at their final press conference made me dubious about Taylor's claim to be 6ft 2in).

Taylor's only had the one fight at super-middle and while he barely put a foot wrong against Lacy one wonders whether he will have the stomach to go in the trenches with Froch.

One only has to view the tape of the Pascal fight again to re-affirm that Froch has the stomach for a war and while I am still not sold on him fighting with his hands low, he has shown a good set of whiskers so far and if he can weather Taylor's inevitable early storm I fancy him to take over this fight from around halfway.

It could be tough to watch at times given his take-two-to-land-one mentality but I fancy backers of the Froch will get their rewards when the dust settles.