Froch: “I won’t be fighting in Germany, it’s as simple as that”

Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime – By Scott Gilfoid: For a fighter that says he has no problems fighting in his opponent’s backyard, Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KO’s) sure sounds like he has major issues with it. Froch, who lost his fight and his World Boxing Council super middleweight strap last night to Mikkel Kessler in Herning, Denmark, doesn’t want to have to travel to fight Arthur Abraham – his next stage 3 Super Six tournament opponent – in Abraham’s home of Berlin, Germany. Froch is now threatening to pull out of the Super Six tournament if he has to fight Abraham in Germany rather than in his own home city of Nottingham, England, where Froch recently won what many boxing fans felt was a home town decision over Andre Dirrell last October.

Froch thinks that he would have beaten Kessler last night if the fight had taken place in Nottingham, and I’m in full agreement with Froch with that belief. It’s interesting how one loss has suddenly changed Froch’s opinion about wanting to fight on the road. I think I like the old Froch better than the new one. In article at the Sun, Froch says “I won’t be fighting in Germany, it’s as simple as that. It would mean me pulling out of the [Super Six] tournament if they forced me to fight in Berlin. So I want to get that straight from the start. It has already been agreed that I would fight at home, fight away and back at home. It has been agreed with Ken Hershman at Showtime. So my fight with Abraham is in England or the fight is now happening and will make a mockery of the tournament. It’s a simple as that.”

Gosh, is there anything else you want with that, Mr. Froch? Are there any other special requests/demands that you want? How about the judges? Anyone in particular you want? Seriously, though, I can’t believe that Froch is ready to walk over this. If Froch is the warrior that he is, he should be able to take a private jet over to Germany and fight Abraham, don’t you think? After all, Froch has said that beating Abraham will be no problem. What’s the big deal then.

Froch says “I am adamant that the next fight, with Arthur Abraham, will be taking place in Britain.” Sheesh. I don’t know how the Super Six tournament organizers are going to take to hearing Froch giving ultimatums all of a sudden. Who knows? Maybe they’ll accommodate Froch, because he clearly is upset after getting beaten for the first time in his career. But the worry here is that if they do give into Froch this time, what happens if he comes up with a different issue in the near future with another ultimatum to walk from the Super Six tournament? You know what I mean?

If a fighter is willing to walk out on a tournament based on something like this, you have to worry that this kind of thing can happen again and not just from Froch. Other fighters could see Froch getting his way and start using the same strategy to get what they want from the Super Six tournament organizers, whatever that might be.