By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KO’s) is stubbornly still looking to have his stage 3 Super Six fight take place in Nottingham, England, rather than Berlin, Germany, the home city of his next opponent Arthur Abraham. Froch, 32, lost his last fight in the Super Six tournament to Mikkel Kessler by a 12 round unanimous decision in Herning, Denmark. Froch believes he won the fight, despite many people, including myself, seeing Kessler as the winner. Froch and his promoter Mick Hennessy thought the next fight was going to be in Nottingham, and supposedly had a verbal agreement for the fight to take place there with Sauerland Events, the promoters for Abraham.
Sauerland says there was no verbal or written agreement with Froch and his promoter. Froch initially said that he would pull out of the Super Six tournament if the fight takes place in Germany, but he has recently been sounding more open to the fight taking place in a neutral venue. However, the BBC is reporting that Froch is back to wanting it to take place in Nottingham. Froch says “They want me to fight in Berlin, which is Arthur Abraham’s home town. That’s not going to happen. Hopefully we’re going to get it at Forrest of Notts County ground because we need a big venue to make it financially feasible. I really need the support of the people. They get that next gear out of you. That’s what brought the best out of Mikkel Kessler and got him the victory.”
It’s interesting to see Froch now changing his mind about the idea of fighting on the road. Froch previously used to talk about having to qualms about going into the lion’s den of his opponents and beating them in front of their home fans. However, the one example that he used to mention frequently was his fight against Jermain Taylor in April 24th, 2009, which took place in front of a small crowd at the Foxwoods Resort, in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
I’m not sure if Froch is aware of this or not, but Taylor is from Little Rock, Arkansas, which is many miles away from Connecticut. Arkansas is next to Texas, which is centered in the middle of the U.S., while Connecticut is all the way on the East Coast. In other words, that wasn’t exactly a case of Froch fighting in Taylor’s home town. It was in front of a small crowd and nothing like the kind of crowd that Froch would have had to deal with if the fight had taken place in Taylor’s home city of Little Rock.
At any rate, Froch seems not so interested in fighting in front of a hostile crowd now. I can respect that. Froch beat Andre Dirrell by a controversial 12 round split decision while fighting at home in Nottingham. A lot of people think that Dirrell won that fight. If Froch gets his way and is able to fight Abraham in Nottingham, this could be a big advantage for Froch if the fight goes to decision.
Froch cannot afford to lose to Abraham in their August fight; otherwise he won’t make it to the semi finals of the Super Six tournament. But Froch really doesn’t have much to fear from fighting in Germany, as far as I’m concerned. He does if he fights like he did against Kessler, looking tired for an extended period of time, holding his hands down by his sides and not doing enough to get the win. If Froch fights like that against Abraham in Germany – or wherever – Froch will probably lose again and only have himself to blame.
But I don’t see the fight going to decision, so he needn’t worry his head about things like hometown decisions. Abraham punches incredibly hard and if Froch keeps his hands down by his waist like he did against Kessler, Abraham will knock him cold – it’s as simple as that. The end result of fighting with that style against a big puncher like Abraham is a knockout loss for Froch. The guy has got to start protecting his chin. Even if he does make it to the end of the fight against Abraham, I think Froch’s face is going to look bloody and battered unless he starts covering up that beak and lantern jaw. Abraham isn’t the kind of fighter you want to let your chin be your third glove against. Abraham will likely rattle Froch’s noggin something fierce if he fights with his hands down by his waist all night long like he did against Kessler.
Nevertheless, I don’t see the Froch-Abraham fight taking place in Nottingham. Unless Froch and his promoter can convince Sauerland that there’s more money to be made in one of their large arenas or stadiums in England, the fight will probably take place in Germany. I just wonder whether Froch could sell out a really large arena in England. I don’t know if he’s as popular as Amir Khan or David Haye – two of the most popular fighters in British boxing at this time.
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