Froch Setting a Standard, Downplays Hopkins Bout

By Mark Vester

WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch wants to set a standard among fighters in the UK. He doesn't want to sit back and take minor fights on UK soil. Froch wants to take the best fights, regardless of location, and he isn't afraid to give up the homecourt advantage. He went over to America to make the first defense of title, stopping Jermain Taylor in the twelfth round. Now he wants to unify the division by facing IBF champin Lucian Bute in Montreal, Canada.

A few weeks ago, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer revealed that Bernard Hopkins was interested in a possible fight with Froch. While Hopkins is interested in Froch, the feeling is not mutual on the side. Froch wants the champions of his division and fights that make him the most money.

"It's not a fight I'm massively interested in, he's not a champion. The problem with Hopkins is he's the fight everybody's interested in, so he tends to price himself out of the market. He tends to give you peanuts for wanting to fight him. He'll want 80%, while you get 20% — it's unrealistic," Froch said. 

The Nottingham fighter hopes the fight with Bute can be made for the later part of 2009.

"We seem to be making some ground, although there's nothing official, with Bute. It's a fight I'm definitely interested in. I'm WBC champion and I want to unify the belts," Froch said.

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