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Venomous Carl Froch Speaks 'The Truth' About Plans to KO Andre Dirrell
Nicknamed "The Cobra," England's Carl Froch certainly was spitting venom during a recent conference call involving upcoming rival, Andre Dirrell.
The WBC supermiddleweight champion was, all at once, confident, brash and unrepentant, respectively, about what he did in stopping Arkansas' Jermain Taylor with 12 seconds left in their April bout; the fact that he expects to similarly blast Dirrell into unconcious oblivion; and in defending what he has to say in regard to himself or just about any subject.
"To be honest, I always conduct myself in a professional manner. I'm a consumate professional from start to finish. Anything I say, I mean, and I stand by my convictions. If I am coming across as insulting or unfair or whatever, well I only say what I believe in," said Froch, 32.
"If you want to call it trash talk, it's not trash talk. It's confidence and belief, and I'm not going to apologize for anything that I've said or will say," said Froch. "I speak the truth and I speak what I believe. I'm in a position where I can pretty much say what I want to the opponent, or to give people the respect that I think that they deserve."
Call him "The Sherriff of Nottingham" after his home town in England, where Froch (25-0, 20 knockouts) has no doubt that he will successfully defend his supermiddleweight (168 pounds) crown on Oct. 17 against Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs) in front of what will surely be a boisterous, partisan crowd at the Trent FM Arena.
"I think it's a big plus for me fighting at home. I've boxed in the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, probably 13, 14 times. So it's a home away from home for me, so I'll be cool, calm and relaxed," said Froch, who has fought 23 times in England and just twice in America.
"I've been in the trenches more than once, and I've come out of it on top more than once. I'm an undefeated professional with an 80 percent knockout ratio -- and that will improve on Oct. 17," said Froch. "Being at the Nottingham Arena in my home town just makes my job a whole lot easier. I'm looking forward to fighting in front of 8,000 fans -- cheering my name and backing me up."
Froch-Dirrell will be the second in Showtime's Super Six Supermiddleweight World Boxing Classic tournament, following the tape-delayed matchup between former champions Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KOs) and Armenian-born Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs), who will meet in Abraham's adopted home town of Berlin at the O2 World Arena in Germany.
On Nov. 21, Denmark's WBA champion Mikkel Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs) visits the backyard of Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.
While Froch believes Kessler to be the tournament's most accomplished fighter "based on experience, pedigree and proven entity," the Briton added, "I'm the most dangerous, which is why all the bookies across the world have me as the favorite."
"If I get Dirrell or anybody -- not just Andre Dirrell -- if I get anybody in a position where they're down and they're hurt, I'm one of the best finishers in the business," said Froch. "That's why television is excited about showing my fights -- because I always produce a grand stand finish. I'm a big puncher, and the knockouts come easy for me."
Maybe so.
But Froch trailed by four points on two of the judges cards, even as he led by the same amount on the third judges card when he knocked Taylor cold. Yet Froch seemed offended when reminded that, in fact, he was so far behind that he required had to stop Taylor to retain his crown.
"I think you need to re-watch the fight. I had problems in round three when I caught one on the side of the head and went down for the first time in my career, amateur or professional," said Froch.
"After that, I was comfortably out-jabbing him, out-boxing him, putting him where I wanted to. I maneuvered him and hit him with consistent, steady little shots to keep safe and overcome the two-point deficit," said Froch. "And when the time was near and when the timing was correct, in rounds 10, 11 and 12, I showed more authority and showed what I was about.
"Jermain showed a little sign of weakness, I caught him with a nice right hand through the middle in Round 10," said Froch. "He was hurt, his legs were gone, he was holding on. I did what I had to do in Round 11, I did what I had to do in Round 12. It wasn't a one-sided affair."
A former Olympic bronze medalist, Dirrell acknowledged, "[Froch] showed heart against Jermain Taylor, and he showed that he wanted it more. Period."
"[Froch] went in there and he put in his work, regardless of the scorecards. He knew what he had to do and he went in there and did it. He worked like a champ. He showed how to overcome being hurt. He showed all of his toughness. He showed 100 percent toughness," said Dirrell.
"So you have to be ready and a very careful fighter when it comes to fighting Froch because he showed all of his necessities in that fight," said Dirrell. "[Froch] knows how to handle himself very well. He is a great finisher, an excellent finisher and he's a very strong puncher."
Froch said Dirrell can expect the best out of him on Oct. 17.
"I train for every single fight like I'm challenging for a world title. It's difficult and it's hard to become a world champion," said Froch.
"I went toe-to-toe with [previously unbeaten] Jean Pascal for 12 rounds to win my title, and he's a guy who has since become [WBC] world champion at light heavyweight," said Froch. "I'm a proud, proud warrior, prepare hard, train hard, and I'll do what I need to remain the champion of the world."
That's a good thing, because Dirrell plans to foil Froch's "Cobra" by being a mongoose.
"Truth be told, he's never, ever faced a guy like Andre Dirrell, never been in there with a guy who is as fast as me, or who can switch up like me," said Dirrell, whose nickname is "The Matrix."
"I hope that he's coming to show his 'A' game because I'm going to come with mine," said Dirrell. "That's what I'm looking forward in him so there will be no excuses."
And if Dirrell has his way, there will be a new Sherriff in Nottingham.
The WBC supermiddleweight champion was, all at once, confident, brash and unrepentant, respectively, about what he did in stopping Arkansas' Jermain Taylor with 12 seconds left in their April bout; the fact that he expects to similarly blast Dirrell into unconcious oblivion; and in defending what he has to say in regard to himself or just about any subject.
"To be honest, I always conduct myself in a professional manner. I'm a consumate professional from start to finish. Anything I say, I mean, and I stand by my convictions. If I am coming across as insulting or unfair or whatever, well I only say what I believe in," said Froch, 32.
"If you want to call it trash talk, it's not trash talk. It's confidence and belief, and I'm not going to apologize for anything that I've said or will say," said Froch. "I speak the truth and I speak what I believe. I'm in a position where I can pretty much say what I want to the opponent, or to give people the respect that I think that they deserve."
Call him "The Sherriff of Nottingham" after his home town in England, where Froch (25-0, 20 knockouts) has no doubt that he will successfully defend his supermiddleweight (168 pounds) crown on Oct. 17 against Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs) in front of what will surely be a boisterous, partisan crowd at the Trent FM Arena.
"I think it's a big plus for me fighting at home. I've boxed in the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, probably 13, 14 times. So it's a home away from home for me, so I'll be cool, calm and relaxed," said Froch, who has fought 23 times in England and just twice in America.
"I've been in the trenches more than once, and I've come out of it on top more than once. I'm an undefeated professional with an 80 percent knockout ratio -- and that will improve on Oct. 17," said Froch. "Being at the Nottingham Arena in my home town just makes my job a whole lot easier. I'm looking forward to fighting in front of 8,000 fans -- cheering my name and backing me up."
Froch-Dirrell will be the second in Showtime's Super Six Supermiddleweight World Boxing Classic tournament, following the tape-delayed matchup between former champions Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KOs) and Armenian-born Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs), who will meet in Abraham's adopted home town of Berlin at the O2 World Arena in Germany.
On Nov. 21, Denmark's WBA champion Mikkel Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs) visits the backyard of Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.
While Froch believes Kessler to be the tournament's most accomplished fighter "based on experience, pedigree and proven entity," the Briton added, "I'm the most dangerous, which is why all the bookies across the world have me as the favorite."
"If I get Dirrell or anybody -- not just Andre Dirrell -- if I get anybody in a position where they're down and they're hurt, I'm one of the best finishers in the business," said Froch. "That's why television is excited about showing my fights -- because I always produce a grand stand finish. I'm a big puncher, and the knockouts come easy for me."
Maybe so.
But Froch trailed by four points on two of the judges cards, even as he led by the same amount on the third judges card when he knocked Taylor cold. Yet Froch seemed offended when reminded that, in fact, he was so far behind that he required had to stop Taylor to retain his crown.
"I think you need to re-watch the fight. I had problems in round three when I caught one on the side of the head and went down for the first time in my career, amateur or professional," said Froch.
"After that, I was comfortably out-jabbing him, out-boxing him, putting him where I wanted to. I maneuvered him and hit him with consistent, steady little shots to keep safe and overcome the two-point deficit," said Froch. "And when the time was near and when the timing was correct, in rounds 10, 11 and 12, I showed more authority and showed what I was about.
"Jermain showed a little sign of weakness, I caught him with a nice right hand through the middle in Round 10," said Froch. "He was hurt, his legs were gone, he was holding on. I did what I had to do in Round 11, I did what I had to do in Round 12. It wasn't a one-sided affair."
A former Olympic bronze medalist, Dirrell acknowledged, "[Froch] showed heart against Jermain Taylor, and he showed that he wanted it more. Period."
"[Froch] went in there and he put in his work, regardless of the scorecards. He knew what he had to do and he went in there and did it. He worked like a champ. He showed how to overcome being hurt. He showed all of his toughness. He showed 100 percent toughness," said Dirrell.
"So you have to be ready and a very careful fighter when it comes to fighting Froch because he showed all of his necessities in that fight," said Dirrell. "[Froch] knows how to handle himself very well. He is a great finisher, an excellent finisher and he's a very strong puncher."
Froch said Dirrell can expect the best out of him on Oct. 17.
"I train for every single fight like I'm challenging for a world title. It's difficult and it's hard to become a world champion," said Froch.
"I went toe-to-toe with [previously unbeaten] Jean Pascal for 12 rounds to win my title, and he's a guy who has since become [WBC] world champion at light heavyweight," said Froch. "I'm a proud, proud warrior, prepare hard, train hard, and I'll do what I need to remain the champion of the world."
That's a good thing, because Dirrell plans to foil Froch's "Cobra" by being a mongoose.
"Truth be told, he's never, ever faced a guy like Andre Dirrell, never been in there with a guy who is as fast as me, or who can switch up like me," said Dirrell, whose nickname is "The Matrix."
"I hope that he's coming to show his 'A' game because I'm going to come with mine," said Dirrell. "That's what I'm looking forward in him so there will be no excuses."
And if Dirrell has his way, there will be a new Sherriff in Nottingham.
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