By Sean McDaniel: Wilfried Sauerland of the promotional company Sauerland Events, had some bad news for former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-1, 21 KO’s) and his promoter Mick Hennessy today in a press release. Sauerland said there had been no verbal or written agreements as to the venue for the upcoming stage 3 Super Six tournament fight on August 21st between their fighter Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KO’s) and the recently defeated Froch. Sauerland said that there never was any agreement, despite the fact that some newspapers have said there was a verbal agreement.
Sauerland points out that the contract states that Abraham-Froch fight will take place in European territory – “or wherever it makes the most commercial sense for everyone involved.” Sauerland is open to having the fight take place in neutral territory, if possible. It’s unknown if this is something that Froch would agree to, as he has his mind set on being able to fight in front of his home fans in Nottingham, England. If the fight does take place in a neutral country, it would likely have to be one close enough for UK fans to get to it without air traffic problems due to the volcano ash from the Iceland volcano interrupting flights.
Sauerland says that if the fight can’t be made in neutral territory, then it would come down to a location that was the “best commercial option,” meaning the location that would make the most money. One problem with having the fight take place in neutral territory is that it could end up being a commercial failure because of the difficulties there might be for the two fighters’ fans to make it to the fight. There is the expense of travel and there’s also the problems with flying due to the volcano ash that’s been interrupting air travel around Europe. This is something that could wind up getting poor ticket sales if a neutral location is too far away from the two fighters’ home countries.
Abraham would like for the Froch fight to take place at the O2 Arena in Berlin, which seats 14,000 fans. In contrast, the Trent FM Arena, in Nottingham, where Froch usually fights while at home, seats 10,000. Perhaps Froch and his promoter have another arena that could top the O2 in Berlin in terms of seating.
Froch is threatening to pull out of the Super Six tournament unless his fight with Abraham takes place in Nottingham. Froch has stated he will not fight in Germany.
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