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The Nottingham Cobra is daring the man who calls himself Son Of God to nerve himself for a first fight outside the Americas.
‘I fought him in the US,’ Froch says. ‘Now it’s only right that he comes over here. To be a truly great champion you have to box overseas.
‘Ward needs to be forced to travel out of his comfort zone.
‘I dare him. He will discover that I’m a very different animal here than I was that night on the Boardwalk.’
Froch suspects Ward believes he will relinquish the WBA belt, as he did his IBF world championship last month.
But he warns: ‘I vacated the IBF title so as not to delay James DeGale from getting his chance any longer. But I’m not giving up the WBA title. No way.’
Promoter Eddie Hearn, with whom he meets this week to discuss strategy for the negotiations, is provisionally holding the City Ground for May 30. That is the night of the FA Cup final and there would be a sizeable over-carry of TV viewers from Wembley on to pay-per-view with Sky.
But Froch says: ‘That is already short notice for me and if we have to wait for purse bids there won’t be time for proper training camps for either of us. I would hope we can find another date in middle to late June.’
‘I will only get back in the ring for a fight that really floats my boat,’ says Froch.
‘And when you think about it, beating Ward in Nottingham would be a fantastic way to end my career.’
Froch says: ‘The nine months since I knocked out George is the longest I’ve been out but Ward has to be really rusty.
‘Also, a lot went wrong for me in that Super Six final. I was looking forward to appearing in Madison Square Garden but it was moved to Atlantic City .Out on the shore in the cold of mid-winter. Disappointing. The date was pushed back so I had to hang around in America a lot longer than planned. It ended up a week before Christmas and my mind was on getting home to the family instead of the fight.
‘It’ll be very different in the English summer.’
‘I fought him in the US,’ Froch says. ‘Now it’s only right that he comes over here. To be a truly great champion you have to box overseas.
‘Ward needs to be forced to travel out of his comfort zone.
‘I dare him. He will discover that I’m a very different animal here than I was that night on the Boardwalk.’
Froch suspects Ward believes he will relinquish the WBA belt, as he did his IBF world championship last month.
But he warns: ‘I vacated the IBF title so as not to delay James DeGale from getting his chance any longer. But I’m not giving up the WBA title. No way.’
Promoter Eddie Hearn, with whom he meets this week to discuss strategy for the negotiations, is provisionally holding the City Ground for May 30. That is the night of the FA Cup final and there would be a sizeable over-carry of TV viewers from Wembley on to pay-per-view with Sky.
But Froch says: ‘That is already short notice for me and if we have to wait for purse bids there won’t be time for proper training camps for either of us. I would hope we can find another date in middle to late June.’
‘I will only get back in the ring for a fight that really floats my boat,’ says Froch.
‘And when you think about it, beating Ward in Nottingham would be a fantastic way to end my career.’
Froch says: ‘The nine months since I knocked out George is the longest I’ve been out but Ward has to be really rusty.
‘Also, a lot went wrong for me in that Super Six final. I was looking forward to appearing in Madison Square Garden but it was moved to Atlantic City .Out on the shore in the cold of mid-winter. Disappointing. The date was pushed back so I had to hang around in America a lot longer than planned. It ended up a week before Christmas and my mind was on getting home to the family instead of the fight.
‘It’ll be very different in the English summer.’
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