CARL FROCH: I NEED TO BEAT ABRAHAM TO GET TO SEMI-FINALS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 29, 2010 – 11:07 AMT 06:07 GMT

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.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress