Could Froch Abandon England For the United States?
April 19th, 2009
By Chris Williams: Carl Froch (24-0, 19 KOs) is kicking around the idea of fighting permanently in the United States or Canada after being ignored by British television for his April 25th bout against Jermain Taylor at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, Connecticut, according to the Daily mail. Froch, 31, doesn’t understand how or why his fight isn’t being shown in England, since he’s coming off one of the most exciting bouts of the year, a 12-round unanimous decision against top rated Jean Pascal in December.
At 31, Froch doesn’t have much more time left before he starts losing his ability, so it would be a wise move for him to abandon England as fast as he can to maximize his earnings elsewhere should Froch opt to move away from the UK.
The bout will be shown on the internet at a PPV site set up by Froch’s promoter. However, that move hardly makes up for the thousands of people that would have likely watched the bout had it been shown on television in the UK.
What makes it strange is that the Taylor-Froch bout is easily the biggest in Carl’s career, and easily more competitive on paper than most of Joe Calzaghe’s bouts in his career. Yet, Calzaghe was a huge hero in the UK and his fights were always shown on television, no matter whom he chose to fight.
If Froch continues to find his fights blacked out in the UK, he might need to consider going forward with his threat to move to the U.S. to finish out his career, because to stay and fight under those circumstance would be silly. In the U.S, Froch could easily be as popular as Kelly Pavlik if Carl can get by Taylor and win a couple of more fights in 2009.
It might be considered traitorous by his many boxing fans in the UK, but my guess is that most of them would consider doing the same thing if they saw that their fights were being ignored by British television. Most top boxing athletes only have a small window to make their mark in the sport before they start their decline.
If Froch can find a better deal elsewhere like the U.S., then he needs to make the move sooner rather than later so that he can get the most out of his career. I back Froch 100% of the way for considering this, because he can make big money in the U.S. if he moves here, and believe me, his fights would be shown on cable television every time out.
Tags: 29 Responses to “Could Froch Abandon England For the United States?”
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Callum stevenson- are u just a casual boxing fan? im getting that impression. There are endless issues making the khan barrera fight NOT what it appeared to be on paper. but since your one of those fans with no knowledge or understanding i wont waste time going into them with you. the barrera fight meant nothing thats all u need to know
ukandsodoff- good idea i hadnt thought of that..radio!! which station will be broadcasting it do u know at all??
Tony T- if u bothered to read my argument before opening ur big mouth u would understand what my point is..we pay a monthly subscription for setanta therefore we are entitled to slag it off if i am dissatisfied..no i dont have to subscribe but since i do ill have my opinion. Also as iv suggested it IS still setanta fault partly..because being the home of boxing they ought to have bought this fight for its harcore british fans even if it cost a lot and they could have funded this expense by not spending so much on garbage that less people find interesting such as holt vs bradley..or all this german crap..if hey had budgeted properly and cut out some garbage they would have had extra money to provide a fight more people want. END OF u pratt
Jameso- do you work for setanta?? you clearly are not a boxing fan who views this fight as an important event.
Makes you wonder if Froch was partly a victim of a TV clash the last time out when he fought Pascal. THe Froch fight was shown on ITV4 at the same time as Skys own Boxing show featuring Khan V The Irish PE Teacher and part time sparring partner to his mate paddy mCwontbox. (Be it on PPV). Makes you wonder if this effected the viewing figures for the ITV4 show hence making Froch look less of a TV Draw. If this is the case its a management problem. Shame all the same.
Oli: Amir Khan vs a nobody?
You call Barrera a nobody?
Where have you been for the last 15 years?
Ukandsodoff – I have been assured by Frochs web site it will be a top quality stream (I know they would say that) but i do believe it will be top class. Also it will have the full undercard being shown. Not the most ideal way of watching it but i do think it will be worth a tenner.
Oli…stop…forever.
Anyway the blunt fact is that the sums dont add up, end of story. People can moan as much as they want about how it “ought to be on tv” just because their annoyed they cant watch it. Im a boxing fan but i never let me interests get in the way of reality, this is the harsh reality.
With Setanta you pay youre monthly fee whatever that is now. With SKY I pay £40 plus a month and then have to pay another £20 on box office for any half decent fight they show
I understand why Setanta ITV and Sky havnt taken the fight, money, its too much and they could make a loss.
But its frustrating and i even feel a tad embarresed for Froch. All the work hes put in to get here and now hes here, as our own world champ with the best belt in the business and hes not even on telly.
Has anybody ever paid for a fight over the tinernet before? Are these streams flawless? Im willing to pay for it if its guna be a smooth stream. If it jiggers about and freezes i dont wana know and i will listen to it on the radio.
As explained on Buncey’s show last Thursday >>
The reason why this fight isnt on TV / Setanta / pay-per-view is for one reason only >>
The promoters of this fight were asking for TOO MUCH MONEY for it to be televised in UK.
SO WHO IS TO BLAME HERE REALLY ?
Dont slag off the UK TV companies that bought you hours upon hours of boxing that we all enjoyed, quite clearly the man isnt big news like he thought & the promoters were asking too much money…END OF…!!
An unbeaten brit is the WBC champ…he goes to the US to defend his title against a marquee name…and the fight is not televised in the UK??
Im staggered!! and im also very angry indeed about it. where are Sky sports these days? they think Amir Khan against some nobody is good value PPV yet they dont put carl frochs fight in the USA on or anything else these days for that matter.
As for Setanta…this is a channel watched almost purely for its boxing…it calls itself the home of boxing!! the hardcore boxing fan pays monthly to watch it therefore you would expect it to stop at nothing to give its subscribers the very best and most interesting fights yet these days and particularly on this occasion i feel it hasnt done enough. There is too much German garbge on setanta these days what nobody cares about. If money was the issue then they should have scraped Holt vs Bradley and all this german rubbish and kept money aside for a fight that is obviously of national importance.
Sky sports no longer care about bigtime boxing and Setanta are going downhill fast
And Jameso…cloe your mouth you are seriously getting on my nerves. Are you a boxing fan or are you not? You may be happy not to watch this fight but us real boxing fans are not. Its Froch vs Taylor WBC Supermiddleweight title..it ought to be on TV end of story
Jameso – I see what your saying. It is business at the end of the day & if they feel it isnt finacially viable then i understand why they wont air it. The problem is as been pointed out they are under estimating the potential they whould have by showing this. I think more will veiw it that expected. Even if someone isnt a big Froch fan you also have to bare in mind Taylor is a massive name & the people who subscribe to Setanta are by large boxing fans. Also if Froch wins well it will enhance his reputation & mean potentially bigger audiences if they air later fights.
As i said before, of course theres a reason why they would have it, it costs too much!! They will make less money then they spend if they bought Froch/Taylor its as simple as that.
The fact that people think that “they just should” is stupid as your not running a business. The only reason why “they should” is because your annoyed you cant watch it. Just accept that Setanta are here to make money, not to give you everything you demand. If people dont like it then dont pay the subscription.
Setanata didn’t show either of the Lacy or Winky Wright fights last week, both of which I was planning on staying up at 3am and watching. Now, they’re not even showing Froch vs Taylor. I think the channel’s on the slide to be fair.
The boxing on the channel is the only reason about half their viewers subscribe.
setanta should heve got the fight no excuse having a bundle of boring german fights is a waste of time. i have not seen one even close to good fight from germany they are poor. watching people like bradley and holt is just a waste of money they need to get people like williams, valero, vasquez.
the diaz marquez fight was what setanta should be about not some unbeaten german against yet another crap fighter
Look its pointless arguing like that. Millwal got shown on the TV because we are a footballing nation. Football must get around 100 times the rating boxing gets when it is shown on terrestrial TV as many many people who simply like football will tune in, regardless of who is playing, they just like the fact that its on TV.
I hate it when people of any sport say things like “it should be on tv” like they have sum kind of right to watch it. Its business after all and the only rights anyone has is ones that lead to more money, thats fair enough. If the sums dont add up it wont be shown, its totally fair enough that theres no sense of duty to screen a world title fight.
People tend to stop thinking rationally when its in their interest.
Well jameso, surely, ITV should help promote froch and build his reputation. the fact is more people are going to watch it on itv than the internet in the uk. i agree with ukandsodoff, i think broadcasters are really underestimating how much ppl wanna see this fight.
Best case scenario for ITV: Forch beats Taylor and get a good rating. They can use him again in future and a big win over taylor would guarntee other big fights.
Worst case scenario for ITV. Froch loses and they dont have him on the channel again. end of.
I dont think it matters whether froch had big fights before or not. Carl Froch is the WBC super middleweight champion! Jermain Taylor is the former undisputed middleweight champion. This is a big fight. Now Millwall got to the FA cup final in 2004 but the final gets shown nationwide. Millwall dont have a big fan base but because it was the FA cup final it gets broadcast regardless. Therefore i believe that when titles as big as the WBC are being fought for that they should be televised.
I know the millwall FA cup comparison is abit crazy haha but i hope people will kind of understand my point.
was froch pascal really ITV4? I could have sworn it was ITV1.
Froch has only had one notable fight that would have got him in the minds of more than a select few people that go out of their way to watch boxing.
The Froch Pascal fight was shown on prime-tim ITV4, a channel with not a great amount viewers anyway, and therefor the vast majority of people watching will have been boxing fans anyway who knew where to find it.
Froch does have a big homegrown support base and nothing like that of Hatton and Calzaghe. The difference is that these boxers can convince Joe public to stop doing what they are doing and watch them, Froch cant. The networks shouldnt take risks with their money on the hope that he has a bigger support base than they anticipate.
Froch is very patriotic and will be gutted this aint being shown on UK telly.
Obviously the tv companies feel its a too expensive for the hour its guna be on at and fights out in America can be a bit costly.
But im quite angry these TV companies and especially the Sports networks SKY and Setanta aint willin to spend a little extra on this fight.
I think they may be underestimating the level of interest over here for Froch.
Im sure Froch would get more of everything good about being a Pro if he plyed his trade over there. America is the Mecca of boxing at the end of the day. And im sure hed be tempted seeing as hes not gettin far enough quick enough over here in the UK. Especially seein as hes the WBC champ.
Hey, I don’t blame Froch for one minute, leaving England means getting away from lots of cold rainy days not to mention the repellent sort of politics that is going down so amply these days in “merry”old England. The plentiful sunshine and friendly gals in California will also do him loads of good and with loads of vitamin D to enhance his boxing to boot. Btw, will the last man out please turn off the lights.
fightman i think the jenning fight was only on setanta because of his opponent.
I know the tv stations are being hit financially by the recession but I still pay £13 a month or whatever it is for setanta.Its far from worth it now though as there is nowhere near as much boxing on this year compared to 2008
jameso i agree with u, just wandered why that was seemed strange!! i wont argue with anyones thoughts on here i dnt know enough to argue ha!
Yes and im sure they had some daft reason for it. Im also sure that their bosses will not make that mistake again because i guarantee you they will have lost more money than they made in that deal. Either that or they will have picked up the fight cheap.
The Amercians will probabaly be demanding through the roof prices for a fight few people other than boxing fans will care about. They will loose money due to the time slot and therefor dont want to invest, its fair enough.
michael jennings had no real following to speak of. yet was on setanta???? and he got pummelled.
I`m afraid no one except boxing fans know who carl froch is,He has only had one big fight against pascal and i am the only person i know who watched it,You have to have a few big fights before you get a big enough name for tv companies to cough up money on on you.
I hate the way alot of people are talking about how much of a shame it is that the fight is not on British TV and how the UK networks have left Froch out in the cold etc.
What the hell do you expect?! The fight would cost UK TV huge sums of money due to it being in America and they just cannot afford it. Why should a network who is already suffering from the recession spend money on a fight that will air live at around 3am, with no-one up to watch it?! Froch doesnt have the backing like someone of Hatton or Calzaghe and therefor not many fans, barring a few purists, would stay up to catch it.
Its a perfectly sound business decision and if Froch were fighting in the UK they may take more interest.
i was gutted when i found out frochs fight wasnt gonna be shown on british tv,i honestly believe (hes gonna smoke his boots as he says,)i agree though once hes beaten taylor his status will soar,and people will sit up and take notice,you cant blame him for being abit fluxed at this,,hes best of waiting a couple more fights because i believe the british will get behind,,hes the real deal and ,proper profesional,it would be a massive loss for british boxing if he was to up sticks for the states,,,,if the moneys there tho who can blame him,,?!!