Carl Froch: Ready To Grab a Helsinki Victory at All Costs
By Terence Dooley
Carl Froch sounds in fine fettle ahead of his make-or-break WBC super-middleweight title clash with Arthur Abraham at the Hartwall Arena, Helsinki tomorrow night. 'The Corba' came in under the 168lb limit, weighing 167.1 earlier today; 'King' Arthur tipped the scales on the division limit. Froch, 26-1 (20), believes that he is in good physical condition and will regain the WBC title he lost when suffering a points reverse to Mikkel Kessler in Denmark back in April.
“I go into every fight to win. If that means throwing bombs and breaking ribs then, yeah, I'll do everything I can to win my belt back,” declared Froch when speaking to Kevin Mitchell of The Guardian. “I come into the fight with self-belief and confidence. I plan win this belt back. I don't think it should have ever been taken away in the first place. I predict I'm going to win by any means necessary.”
Abraham, 31-1 (25), is equally confident, “I'm in a good mood, a comfortable mood,” he said. “This is a bit cold for me since my coach has had me training in 110-degree temperatures, but it is good for the body.”
Froch will be cheered on by David Haye, who has indicated via Twitter his intention to attend the fight; indeed, the Nottingham fighter goes into this one knowing that he needs to be at his best if he is to rejoin 'The Hayemaker' in the rank of active British world champs.
Haye used his tweet to implore people to tune to Primetime and support the popular brawler, who has been hidden away on the pay-per-view network since his fight with Jermain Taylor; Carl had produced a memorable brawl in his previous, title-winning contest when warring to a points win over Jean Pascal live on ITV in December 2008 and his relative low-profile in terms of TV exposure is hugely disappointing given that his recent run of fights – Pascal, Taylor, Dirrell, Kessler and now Abraham – represents a killer's row of boxing talent.
Froch, 33, may not grab as many headlines as Haye, Ricky Hatton or Amir Khan yet he's unanimously enshrined in British boxing folklore as the fighter's fighter, a man who is prepared to travel abroad, eager to take on any and all comers without the luxury of interim, read relatively easy, contests.
A win over Abraham, a controversial loser in his fight with Dirrell back in March, would see Froch progress to the next round of the Super Six format, a tournament that has been plagued by controversy and pull-outs, after what promises to be a memorable fight.
Arthur, however, has a lot to prove, his 31-fight winning streak was derailed due to his moment of madness in Detroit, which saw him belt Dirrell when the hometown fighter was on his knees; the Germany-based Armenian was still seething over the loss when I bumped into him in Birmingham in September, there is a steely resolve about Abraham, he feels that he was on his way to a come from behind KO win and, in many ways, still considers himself to be undefeated.
Dirrell laid down the template for beating Abraham, using his movement to create space and targeting the gaps in Arthur's defence rather than just throwing everything at those bulky arms; Froch, though, is not cut from Dirrell's cloth, he is more likely to engage Abraham, with the fans likely to benefit from this move.
Still, win lose or draw, Froch, in going the traditional route and taking on a tough run of names, has converted a good few people to his cause, the fighter has won people over with his straight talk and gutsy displays. Whether you rate him or not, you cannot write him off nor question his heart; Froch, like Abraham, is a fighter right down to the soles of his boots and the two of them should go a long way to restoring boxing's pride on Saturday night, although there may be a foul or two thrown into the mix by both guys.
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