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.
On the other side of the Ocean, the bout will be shown by Showtime in the United States in front of what will likely be a huge American and Canadian audience. This is Froch’s big chance, and if he can defeat Taylor and looked good in doing so, Froch can easily be one of the biggest stars in the U.S. if he decides to stay here permanently.
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.
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