Froch offering Kessler a 50-50 purse split to get him to England for rematch

By Boxing News - 01/08/2013 - Comments

froch3243By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch badly wants to get Mikkel Kessler to agree to fight him in England rather than Denmark or better yet a neutral venue for their rematch. Froch really thinks he’ll do well if he has the support of his British fans this time because in his previous fight in Denmark, Froch fought poorly and there were very few cheers for Froch from the audience.

Froch said to the Nottingham Post “Considering we bring 70 percent to the pot, it is a very generous offer. It is a lot of money, but it’s the only way we can get him here. It’s up to him [Kessler] now. Does he come here for the rematch with Carl or take another easy defense in Copenhagen?”

Froch says it’s another easy title defense for Kessler? I think Froch has lost track of the reality that Kessler just won his World Boxing Association 168 pound strap in his last fight against Brian Magee, so it’s not as if he’s had the belt for a 100 years, beating up guys like Yusuf Mack.

I think Kessler should tell Froch forget it. He wants the fight too badly in the UK, and I don’t like that. It needs to take place in a quiet environment where the crowds won’t influence the fight or the judging. I still think Denmark is the best place because the Danes are incredibly quiet fans. They don’t scream a lot and when they clap, it’s the kind of polite clapping that you hear at golf tournaments.

Kessler can draw 10,000 Danes and that should be good enough. I know Froch has been talking about putting the Kessler fight in an outdoor football stadium where he thinks it will draw 20,000 fans. I don’t believe it, and I think Kessler should say no to that. He doesn’t need to be fighting in a stadium where the British fight fans are cheering each miss from Froch.

I think it would put Kessler in the same situation as Andre Dirrell was when he came to the UK and fought Froch in 2009. Dirrell lost the fight by a highly questionable 12 round decision despite putting on a virtuoso performance in making Froch miss all night with his punches. The Brits cheered every miss and the judges gave Froch the decision. Does Kessler really want to risk having this happen to him too?



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