The Captain: The good, the bad, and the beaten to a pulp

In truth, that status has already been assured with convincing victories over some of boxing’s modern-day greats, done so in a style and manner that puts him above any other domestic fighter.

There will be no 'trash talk' between these two individuals, who are friends out of the ring, but there’s no escaping the brutality of their past. This is a bout that promises to define each of their careers.

The two warriors will stand toe-to-toe under the spotlights on Saturday night, and there’s already a sense of real anticipation that not many British fighters engender in fight fans.

Froch is marketable because, quite simply, he is the quintessential boxer; a thoroughbred cut from the same cloth as some of the all time greats. Not because he is the most skillful - he's not - or even because he has that rarest of talents, the ability to deliver a thundering knockout punch late in a fight.

No, the reason Froch will be mentioned alongside names like Joe Calzaghe and Lennox Lewis is because he is quite simply one of the very best fighters ever to have stepped into a ring, and against Kessler he has promised a war.

A war of wills, a war of fighting styles, and a war of personal sacrifice. For Froch, the bout offers a chance at redemption following the defeat inflicted upon him by Kessler a few years ago.

But the fight will take place against a backdrop of debate over the physical ramifications of the sport, after the brutal bout between Guillermo Jones and Denis Lebedev last week.

The central tenet of the sport is to inflict upon your opponent as much damage as possible, thereby rendering him unable to continue - to break his mind and body.

That in itself is a pretty devastating indictment of the human psyche, and even more so when you hear the primal roar of the crowd as they bay for blood.

But fighters know what they are getting themselves in for. They are  well aware of the potential dangers posed by stepping into a ring to put your life on the line, but what we saw last weekend was nothing short of sickening.

The fight highlighted the very worst aspects of boxing in vivid shades of bloody crimson and bruise-blue.

It was the kind of fight boxing’s detractors point to as reason for the sport to be outlawed. To call it a one sided affair would be an epic understatement.

Lebedev’s face was pounded into so much hamburger meat by his opponent, yet bizarrely the fight was allowed to continue by the ringside doctor.

The bout was for the WBA Cruiserweight title, and both fghters went into it with mixed reputations; 41 year old Jones, the champion, received a great deal of criticism in the build up for an 'unacceptable' level of commitment in recent years - he pulled out of a number of mandatory title defences -so in essence, it was last chance saloon for the South American.

His opponent, the Russian Lebedev, garnered a reputation for taking easy fights to create an aura of invincibility, but that image was brutally dispelled when the referee  finally, mercifully, stopped the fight in the 11th round with the Russian’s  head resembling the Elephant Man.

Lebedev's eye socket was completely re-aligned, and there is no doubt that he will be blind out of one eye for some time to come, such is the extremity of the swelling.

You cannot condemn the fighter for wanting to carry on, after such a savage beating it’s doubtful the Russian could feel anything at all, but for everyone else invloved in marshalling that fight, shame on you.

If and when Lebedev makes it back to the ring I truly hope he is extended the kind of courtesy by his corner that saw Lee Purdy pull him out against the much classier Devon Alexander, aware that their fighter was never going to win the fight and continuing would do more damage than good.

So it is with a cautious sense of anticipation that I look forward to Froch versus Kessler. All boxing fans want to see the fight, but no boxing fan wants to see either man fighting for their lives come Sunday morning.