Froch: Ward has to come to the UK to fight me

froch302By Scott Gilfoid: Fresh off of his 12 round unanimous decision win over WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler tonight in London, England, IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch gave his one condition for WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward to fight him – the fight has to take place in the UK where Froch lives.

In other words, Froch doesn’t want to come to the United States to fight Ward again after losing to him by a 12 round unanimous decision in December 2011 while the two were taking part in the Super Six tournament hosted by Showtime Sports.

Froch said to Sky Sports tonight: “He [Ward] is there to be beaten, but not over in America. Let’s get him over here. I went over to America and now let’s get him over to England. I said before this fight that the winner should really be concentrating on moving on and my other loss was to pound for pound number two in the world Andre Ward.”

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Froch is out of excuses tonight

froch1000By Scott Gilfoid: We’ve heard IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s excuses for why he lost to Mikkel Kessler three years ago and for why he got beaten by Andre Ward in 2011, and some of Froch’s loyal fans have bought into his excuses.

Well, tonight at the O2 Arena in London, England there can be no more excuses for Froch. If he loses tonight, he can’t fall back on the old ‘I lost my edge because my travel to the site was delayed’ or ‘I lost my concentration because I was away from home around Christmas.’

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Groves crushes Gonzalez

By Scott Gilfoid: Not surprisingly, unbeaten super middleweight contender George Groves (19-0, 15 KO’s) stopped Noe Gonzale (30-3, 22 KO’s) in a 5th round TKO on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

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Groves vs. Gonzalez & Bellew vs. Chilemba tonight in London

groves54By Scott Gilfoid: The undercard fights on tonight’s Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler card in London could possibly steal the show with unbeaten super middleweight contender George Groves (18-0, 14 KO’s) facing puncher Noe Gonzalez (30-2, 22 KO’s), and WBC Silver light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s) facing the highly skilled #3 WBC, Isaac Chilemba (20-1-2, 9 KO’s) in a rematch at the O2 Arena.

The Groves-Gonzalez fight looks to be another mismatch put together by Groves’ promoter Eddie Hearn, but there’d a slight possibility the fight could be interesting if Groves goes right after Gonzalez and runs into something big. I mean, I kind of doubt it, but there’s a lottery type chance that Gonzalez can drop Groves a few times and make the fight competitive.

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Hughie Fury stops Finfera in 2nd round

By Scott Gilfoid: 18-year-old heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (4-0, 3 KO’s) scored a 2nd round TKO win over winless Janos Finfera (0-5) on Friday night in Timisoara, Romania. The 6’6” Fury unloaded an avalanche of shots that ended with the 29-year-old Finfera getting stopped.

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Froch vs Kessler II: There Will Be Blood

kessler#800By Mohummad Humza Elahi: Twitter – @MHE_1985 – Tonight, I’ll be sitting in the cheap seats at a packed O2 Arena in London to witness the biggest fight (on these shores) of the year so far. Carl “The Cobra” Froch (30-2-22 KO’s) the hometown favourite will square off against “The Viking Warrior” Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 32 KO’s0).

There’s anticipation of a real classic in the making; I’ve been following the opinions out there and it seems that the majority are going for Froch in a home decision win whereas the rest think Kessler will take the victory and if that happens, I can imagine his hand being raised in a sea of boos (and probably booze) from the crowd. Atmospheres here (and in other parts of Europe) can be very intimidating for boxers not used to fighting on the road, however, this isn’t a factor for Kessler.

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Rios a lose-lose scenario in the making for Pacquiao

pac45By Nick Reynolds: On November 23rd, in Macau, China, Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) will make his much anticipated return to the ring — anticipated because most are eager to see what long term impact Juan Manuel Marquez’s devastating knockout had on Pacquiao’s once upon a time granite chin — as he will be stepping into the ring with fellow Top Rank stablemate Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s).

On the surface for Pacquiao? Decent idea, right? A solid name opponent to add to the resume in Rios who appears to be made to order for Pacquiao due to Rios’ plodding, come forward, and not so difficult to hit style. I’ve heard some even refer to this as a tune-up bout of sorts for Pacquiao — although I fail to see how a 31-1-1 fighter with 23 KO’s to his credit, and who has never been stopped before professionally, qualifies as a “tune-up”. But that’s another topic for another day.

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Khan: Negotiations with Mayweather are underway

khan4343By Scott Gilfoid: Amir Khan is saying that Golden Boy Promotions are trying to negotiate a fight between him and Floyd Mayweather Jr. right now. How serious negotiations are is unclear because Golden Boy is pushing hard to try and get Mayweather to fight their future cash cow WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and they need that fight badly for the Mexican fighter to gain a wide audience in the U.S.

Khan said to I Film London “Negotiations are underway. It’s a fight that Floyd Mayweather wants, and it a fight I’d want to take. I’d love to be in the same ring with Mayweather. I know he has flaws. I think my speed will make a difference in this fight. I think I can make a very tough fight for him.”

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Roach: Pacquiao only has a couple fights left after the Rios bout

roach45By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach says his fighter Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) is about at the end of his career now with a mere three fights left in his estimation as he approaches his fight on November 23rd against fellow Top Rank fighter Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

Pacquiao turns 35 in December, and Roach wants him to fight Juan Manuel Marquez before he retires and whoever else promoter Bob Arum can dig up for him before he calls it quits.

Roach said to Fighthubtv.com “I want Manny in an all-out fight. It’s the young vs. the old and it’s very dangerous, but that’s why I was looking for the Marquez rematch. But unfortunately we’ll continue until that fight comes around again. Win or lose, Manny only has a couple fights left in him after this one.”

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Groves: Froch is afraid to lose to me because it’ll hurt his legacy

froch5645By Scott Gilfoid: 25-year-old super middleweight contender George Groves (18-0, 14 KO’s) thinks IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) is dodging a fight against him because he’s worried about how it’ll look if he gets beaten by the still inexperienced and unaccomplished Groves and exposed again.

Groves thinks Froch doesn’t mind risking getting whipped by Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler because both have beaten him before and they’re well known fighters.

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