Comments Thread For: Froch Balks at Sweden, Will Fight Abraham in America

[ragingvic]

So really you don't know for sure that it was in the contract then?

Sauerland have claimed that there was a verbal agreement for it to take place in Europe. This claim was made after Froch's fight with Kessler.

Feel free to link to any articles claiming that the agreement was made in 2009, or any articles about the agreement that were written in 2009. I doubt you'll find any because I followed a hell of a lot of Super Six coverage and not once did I see Sauerland make these claims until recently.

Sauerland seem dishonest to me. I'm not surprised that there hasn't been much progress in Froch-Abraham negotiations, Sauerland seem to be devoting all of their time to having Haye mess around and then duck Wlad while organising press conferences for Povetkin to make a list of demands for a fight with Wlad that we all know he's not willing to take.

at the end of the day nobody knows what was agreed upon and what wasent the media have reported it both ways and both promoters are playing he said she said. The point is sauerland has a legitmate argument for saying not in the US because of financial issues. What I dont understand is why Froch is saying not in Europe, why does he feel an immigrant from Armenia has a home field advantge in all of Europe?

[Clegg]

In using your same argument froch/henessy have yet to deny that the contract says anything other then europe on it.

Not really an accurate version of events. Hennessey stated that the fight was agreed for the UK. Sauerland then disagreed several months later. Hennessey cannot then 're-disagree', all they can do is restate what they've already said, which is what they've done.

In addition the same media who you quote reporting that forch-AA was set to be in nottingham have reported that the contract says europe.

I've yet to see any reliable media outlet report that the contract says that. I've seen them quote Sauerland and repeat his claims, but I've not seen them state it as fact.

In any case both guys have had one home fight and one away so it makes sense to have this one at a neutral site. If sweden or any other country outside of uk and germany would make more money for the fighters then why not? I dont understand froch's idea of getting robbed in a country outside of england, I didnt realize that an Armenian immigrant to germany somehow has a home field advantage on the entire european contient. BTW I would love it if they could bring it to the US so I could go, but if its anywhere near CA, NV or NY froch is out of luck because i gurantee at least a 85% armenian attendence.

The issue is not so much Abraham's background but his promoters. I think Sauerland will ensure pro-AA judges if the fight happens in Europe.

Having the fight in California would be great. American officials are more likely to be impartial.

[Clegg]

I don't know if any article in 2009 saying this but there are plenty from 2010 saying this.
The reason probably because it was never really talked about till now,while the claim might have been made now I'm pretty sure the stipulation of the fight being in Europe was made from the beggining.
Weather or not Sauerland is dishonest Froch not accepting to fight in Europe is him not respoecting his contract.
Obvioulsy a neutral site would be the best if not go to Sweden,Switzerland or Iceland for all I care.

You're pretty sure because you want to believe it. You have zero evidence, facts or logical to support your opinion.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Why cant they just fight in America and put Dirrell vs Ward as the main event?

[Clegg]

I think I remember it like written by another poster: When the tournament was announced what was made public was that Ward was to have homefield for all his fights and Froch was to fight in Europe against Kessler and AA, meaning that the venue was undecided.

My take is that Froch is playing mindgames here. He is just about to becaome a father so I would think he is looking to stall the negotiations or at least get a larger slice of the pie.

Boxing is a business and staging this fight in the US makes zero sense in an economic perspective. Solely based on money Berlin would probably be far and away the most profitable venue and didn't Froch say that he was willing to travel for one million £?

I think Froch should use a little common sense as well. I don't think he has any meaningful evidence to back up his claim of not getting a fair shake in mainland Europe. I mean look at Haye over Valuev. Also I think AA would have a better case for not wanting to go to Nottingham (Dirrell) or the US where german fighters has been shafted on several occasions (Schulz, Sturm).

PS: I still hope for Denmark.

Bat, there are many examples of boxers travelling to mainland Europe and receiving unfair treatment.

Look at Reid-Ottke. Sauerland were so impressed by the cheating, corrupt ref that they made him a judge for Froch-Kessler. Very fair of them.

I don't think Haye-Valuev supports you viewpoint. A marketable Sauerland fighter won a decision over a less marketable Sauerland fighter. It's not about where the boxer comes from, it's about how much he can earn the promoter staging the show.

[Clegg]

Why cant they just fight in America and put Dirrell vs Ward as the main event?

Because AA isn't willing to have the fight in the US, even though Froch is. Somehow this proves that Froch is a coward

[catalinul]

You're pretty sure because you want to believe it. You have zero evidence, facts or logical to support your opinion.

Do you have any to suport other wise?

[BattlingNelson]

You're pretty sure because you want to believe it. You have zero evidence, facts or logical to support your opinion.

Sorry Clegg but I tend to agree with Catalunil here although a quicksearch provided no evidence. I seem to remember thinking that Europe was the same as saying undecided venue and that tough negotiations was sure to follow.

[Pension-Killer]

There is nothing to support that claim, nice try though.

It was announced by Froch's promoter that Sauerland had agreed for Froch-AA to happen in the UK. Sauerland did not dispute this at all until after Froch-Kessler, at which point Sauerland claimed that they'd only agreed to have the fight in Europe.

If that really was the agreement, it's unlikely that Sauerland would have waited 3 months to say so. Also, why would Hennessey go out of their way to make sure that Sauerland agreed to have the fight in Europe? Clearly, Froch wants to fight in America, not in mainland Europe, so it would make zero sense for Froch to get Sauerland to agree that the fight has to take place in Europe, wouldn't it?

But regardless, here are the facts: Froch is willing to fight in the US, which the only genuinely neutral venue for this particular fight to take place. AA's side are refusing to fight in the US

Froch is willing to take on a fighter who most people expect to KO him. He travelled abroad in his last fight to face someone who was expected to beat him, as he also did in 2009. Despite all of this, he's the one getting all of the criticism because he doesn't want to go and fight a German fighter in Germany. Something tells me that if this was any other super six boxer he wouldn't be getting half as much criticism.

This is boxing.

Having a handshake in boxing is like leaving your sleeping naked girl alone with a guy who just got out of jail.

[ragingvic]

Not really an accurate version of events. Hennessey stated that the fight was agreed for the UK. Sauerland then disagreed several months later. Hennessey cannot then 're-disagree', all they can do is restate what they've already said, which is what they've done.



I've yet to see any reliable media outlet report that the contract says that. I've seen them quote Sauerland and repeat his claims, but I've not seen them state it as fact.



The issue is not so much Abraham's background but his promoters. I think Sauerland will ensure pro-AA judges if the fight happens in Europe.

Having the fight in California would be great. American officials are more likely to be impartial.

well henessy has yet to say that the contract dosent say europe, thats not re-disagreeing he said he got a handshake for england and nothing about the actual written contract. He can disagree that it says europe and claim that it says a neutral site, america, etc...
Heres an article from Mark Vester (fairly reliable and unbiased) on bs http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27492 which he directly claims (does not quote Sauerland) that the contract says it has to be in europe. You posted comments to it so Im surprised that you say you have yet to see one. As far as Europe vs America I would rather have it here but I understand that it dosent make sense financially.