By Terence Dooley
Carl Froch defends his WBC super-middleweight title against Glen Johnson in Atlantic City on June 4th. Sky TV have confirmed that they will broadcast the fight live from the famous Boardwalk Hall venue. Froch, 27-1 (20), has signed a five fight promotional deal with Matchroom Sport, he confirmed his return to Sky Sports when speaking on their Ringside show earlier tonight.
"It is great to be back on Sky. Hopefully the acclaim will come. It has been very frustrating. I'm looking ahead, moving forward, this fight is on Sky and the future is looking positive," enthused Froch as he set the scene for Showtime's Super Six semifinal showdown with Johnson, 51-14-2 (35).
"They call him the 'Road Warrior' because he fights everyone and anyone. He's been beaten a few times but only mixes in world class company. I've got a feeling that it will be like hitting an old oak tree. I'm going to jab and move. Hit and don't get hit back using my long reach and work rate at range. It is my job to use my boxing ability to make the night's work as easy as possible."
Froch dusted off his boxing skills when posting a point's win over Arthur Abraham last November - his jab, ring generalmanship and movement proving too much for the Germany-based brawler. 'The Cobra' had lost his 0 via a split-decision earlier in the year after a fierce battle with Mikkel Kessler. The 33-year-old knew he had to bounce back emphatically against Abraham, who fights Andre Ward in the other semi. Saying, "I knew I had to make a statement. I put the hard work in training and executed the plan perfectly on the night. I corrected the loss to Kessler by beating Abraham to become two time WBC champion."
Mick Hennessy, Froch's former promoter, managed to keep his charge on the air following the loss of Hennessy Sport's ITV deal. Carl, though, believes that spots on Primetime PPV and Premier Sports did not provide the platform or profile needed at this crucial point in his career. "It goes back to marketing, representation and promotion, you say slipping under the radar but I'm fighting on Showtime and just haven't had the representation in England but that is going to change," said Froch when asked if he is underexposed on these shores.
"I'm very excited and optimistic now I'm on Sky TV. I've had five fights on the spin against top level fighters. They have been world class fights but in terms of hard fights you've got [Andre] Dirrell running and holding for twelve rounds but I did what I had to do to beat him. I had a hard fight against Kessler and Jermain Taylor but it wasn't an Arturo Gatti or Barrera-Morales type fight. I've been able to have my breathers. I don't come out of the ring looking like Rocky Balboa did in Rocky 1," his response to questions over his longevity.
"Rather than give myself years I give myself fights, and think I've got a hard five fights in me. Johnson, Andre Ward, a rematch with Kessler or [Jean] Pascal, a fight with Lucian Bute. You've also got guys coming through on these shores like George Groves and DeGale, [Nathan] Cleverly is fighting [WBO light-heavyweight title holder Jeurgen] Braehmer in a couple of weeks. I'm looking at that, definitely. There are big fights on both side of the Atlantic for me."
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