By Mark Vester
Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch penned his recent column for The Nottingham Post, discussing the loss to Mikkel Kessler and the controversy over the location for the upcoming bout with Arthur Abraham in the third stage of the Super Six Boxing Classic.
Froch is still claiming robbery over the close decision loss to Kessler in April. He hopes to have a rematch with Kessler in the semi-finals of the Super Six. Froch says the cheering of the Denmark crowd moved the judges to score the fight for the local favorite.
"I had him reeling and hurt a few times in there and his swollen and damaged face at the end told its own story. Naturally, I was disappointed that I lost, but I will spare you the boring 'I will learn from this' or 'I'm going back to the drawing board' comments. As reigning champion, I felt I did enough to hold on to my title, but it goes with the territory of fighting away," Froch said.
"But mark my words, next time I would not leave it to the judges in a rematch. A fight between us in the future would certainly sell out quickly and is one hopefully we can do later in the SuperSix. Congratulations Mikkel – but you're only borrowing that belt!"
Froch is now attacking Sauerland Event, the promoters for Kessler and Abraham, in full force. He says they are turning their back on a verbal agreement he claims to have made with them. Froch claims the only reason he agreed to fight Kessler in Denmark is because Sauerland agreed to send Abraham to England in the third stage of the Super Six. Froch is refusing to fight Abraham in Germany. He will only take the fight in the UK or a neutral location.
"In the immediate press conference, another sneaky move was pulled by the German promoters. After agreeing that we would go to Denmark to face Kessler and for them to send their other fighter in the SuperSix tournament, Arthur Abraham, to England by return . . . they then backed out of it," Froch said.
"They suddenly announced that it was simply a verbal agreement and that they would press for it to be in Germany. My trip to Denmark was a verbal agreement. But, being honourable, we stuck to it. The truth is, I've calmly said to forget it being a Sauerland-only show in Germany – or any of their other promotional hotspots east of the UK. At the end of the day, they have pulled a sly move and are now trying to portray me as a sore loser, when in reality, I'm an honourable fighter who has already delivered on my side of the bargain."
"The biggest shame is that Saulerland has screwed the British fight fans out of witnessing this blockbuster fight on British soil. The Kessler fight was a tremendous one, but they are souring the occasion and portraying me as a fighter not prepared to travel any more in a bid to 'shame me to Germany' – and anyone who knows me knows that I'm completely fearless of fighting anyone, anywhere. By the same token, those same people will tell you that I've no time for dishonourable people either. When I shake on something, it's set in stone.
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