Carl Froch: I need to beat Abraham to get to semi-finals

PanARMENIAN.Net - Carl Froch has made a dramatic U-turn over his threat to quit boxing’s Super Six tournament.

The 32-year-old lost his WBC super- middleweight title to Mikkel Kessler on Saturday in Denmark and was expecting to meet next opponent Arthur Abraham in Nottingham.

But on learning that the promoters were likely to stage the fight against the German-based Armenian in Berlin, angry Froch said he would pull out.

But his insistence that it would be “Nottingham or nowhere” has now softened, with Froch saying: “I won’t be fighting in Germany, simple as that, but it has been pretty much agreed that we would fight in a neutral venue.”

Froch was unhappy at losing on a unanimous points decision to Kessler, who was fighting in his native Denmark.

And he added: “The last thing I want to do is to prepare and train for a fight in Germany with the same promoter. “With the same promoters involved, that could end up with me having the same problems, potentially, but I don’t think quitting is an option.”

With a win and a loss from his two bouts in the tournament, designed to find the undisputed world champion, Froch needs to beat Abraham to get to the semi-finals.

Although Froch claimed that there was a long-standing agreement that the fight would be held in Britain, Sauerland Events, which promotes both boxers, said that was not the case.

Promoter Wilfried Sauerland said: “Contrary to what Froch’s people stated, there is no agreement, neither written nor verbal, about the venue.

“The contracts imply that the Abraham-Froch fight should take place on European territory or wherever it makes the most commercial sense. I would prefer it to be on neutral territory.”

For Froch, the tournament still represents his best route to reclaim his WBC title. A win over Abraham would put him back in the frame.

With WBA super-middleweight champion Andre Ward also in the competition, three consecutive victories would probably see Froch emerge with two belts, boxingscene.com reported.