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Q&A: Carl Froch
"Abraham is definitely afraid of me"
By Wolfgang Schiffbauer
On November 27, former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch will face Arthur Abraham in the third and final group stage bout of the Super Six tournament. While both fighters have already secured a spot in the semi-finals, there is still the vacant WBC belt on stake. A title Froch lost to Mikkel Kessler in his last fight. ********* caught up with the hard-hitting Froch en route to his daily training regime and asked the former champion about Abraham, his preparation, the tournament and his thoughts about David Haye and the British boxing scene.
How do you feel about finally stepping into the ring with Arthur Abraham on November 27? Are you excited about the upcoming battle?
I don’t get much excited about any boxing match to be honest, but it’s obviously a top- level fight. It’s a world-class fight. The main exciting thing right now is that the WBC title is on the line. That’s a real big deal.
The fight had to be postponed earlier because you suffered a back injury. Can you tell us what happened?
Unfortunately, I can’t really talk about the bad back because there is an ongoing issue about it. Therefore, I’m better off not talking about it without my lawyer being present. But I’m fully fit now and ready to fight.
Abraham doubted your injury, he said that you might have something in your head and not your back.
Abraham has his own opinion in his own world. He believes that everything he thinks is true, at least in his own mind. For example, he also believed that Andre Dirrell was playing and acting when he cheap shotted him while Dirrell was on the floor. As it turns out, Dirrell suffers from a neurological problem. Hopefully he’s gonna be fit and well. Still, Abraham called Dirrell an actor. I don’t know how Dirrell would benefit from that since he stepped out of the tournament. I believe that proves that he wasn’t acting. And there is absolutely no benefit for me to lie about my bad back. For him to say that I’m lying about my bad back just doesn’t make any sense at all. I think he’d like to think in his own mind that I have an issue with my head because of my first loss to Mikkel Kessler but for your information, I actually took a lot of confidence from that loss to Kessler. One, because I went the distance with a world-class operator and two, I didn’t actually get beat. As far as I’m concerned
I won the fight. It was a very close fight but I did enough to win. If you wanna talk about problems in the head, I’d look at Arthur Abraham. He is up two fights at super middleweight, a new weight division, and he won one and lost one. The one he lost was against somebody whom I actually beat. So I think he’s not mentally ready. I think his head is playing tricks on him.
Do you believe he is afraid of you?
He is definitely afraid of me. It’s his first proper fight with a real puncher at 168. He boxed Jermain Taylor, who was finished. I finished off Jermain Taylor, let’s not forget about that. I gave him a bad beating for the rounds ten, eleven and twelve and ended his career. Now, Abraham went twelve rounds with Taylor and got the knockout in the last round from an exhausted Taylor. He was exhausted from the fight with me, he was ready for retirement. Abraham finished off Taylor’s career but it was already sort of ruined by myself. Abraham’s next fight was with Andre Dirrell and he struggled. He lost every round, he got completely outboxed, and he got outclassed. The knockout came with a cheap shot and a foul, hence the disqualification. So I think Arthur Abraham has got a lot of issues in his head he needs to deal with. If he honestly thinks I pulled a fake bad back, which has cost me a lot of money and inconvenience – and for my family and friends – he’s more ludicrous than everybody thought he was.
So how’s your preparation going for the fight?
My preparation is going very well. I’m ahead of schedule because of the injury. I did eight to ten weeks before the injury, before the fight was delayed to November. So things are very good now. I have very strong sparring partners as well. They are mimicking Arthur Abraham brilliantly. So I’ll be more than ready to fight someone like him.
Some experts consider this a crossroads fight for the two of you. Why are you going to win on November 27?
I think it’s just general ring-class, speed, skills and power. I’ve got a lot of attributes that Abraham hasn’t got. He is a one-dimensional fighter. You know what you get with him. Every time he fights, he does the same thing. He’s quite basic and crude. You know, styles decide. Obviously, I got more experience at super middleweight and I’m bigger and stronger – I’m a lot bigger than him – because I’m a natural super middleweight since the start of my career nine years ago. He’s a middleweight and not a natural 168 pound fighter and like I said before he’s 1-1 at super middleweight. Now he’s ready for his second loss in his third fight. I got the tools to beat him, definitely.
Do you want to make a prediction for the fight?
I’m not a fan of predictions to be honest. At the end of day it’s an elite level fight for a world championship belt, so we both deserve to be in the ring for our reasons. I feel I got what it takes to beat Abraham. I will outbox him and if he tries to step inside, to make it a slugfest, he’ll walk into a lot of shots he’s not used to taking from a fully fledged 168 pound fighter. So either way, whatever he tries, he’s gonna be in serious trouble.
There has been a lot of criticism about the Super Six in the last few months after fights had to be postponed and participants pulling out of the tournament. Do you still rate the Super Six as a great and innovative idea in boxing or did the concept fail?
I still think the tournament is fantastic! SHOWTIME’s job needs to be respected because they’ve attempted to do something here that nobody has done before them. I know that people have pulled out of the tournament but if you look at value the customers get for their money – they are getting world-level fights. Fight after fight, and fights that otherwise might not have happened. I probably wouldn’t have fought Kessler or Abraham. These are top-level fights. Jermain Taylor, Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell – they all fought handpicked opponents and once every tenth fight there was a hard fight. The fans were robbed of so many great fights over the years – as it’s always been in boxing. Like my fight with Joe Calzaghe never happened, nor did Junior Witter face Ricky Hatton or the heavyweight fight between David Haye and the Klitschko brothers right now.
With this tournament, you got six fighters, who are top-level, that probably wouldn’t have fought each other without the tournament. It’s not great that fighters had to pull out due to injuries but it just shows how hard it is at top-level boxing, to maintain the pace at this level. I actually expected a few people to step out be replaced and I don’t think that’s really negative. I really believe the person who comes out of it at the end is the true champion because he has not only beaten everyone who was put in front of him but he also passed the test of time. So whoever will hold the Super Six trophy at the end – which I strongly believe it will be me – can call himself the super middleweight champion of the world.
What about Lucian Bute?
Forget about Bute. He’s fighting unworthy opponents. Who cares about a fight against Jesse Brinkley? Nobody! The people are interested in the Super Six fights. The fighters involved are top-level and world-class fighters and the injuries showed how hard boxing at this level really is. I wouldn’t criticize the tournament at all. It’s a damn shame that people had to pull out because of injuries but those were serious matters and health is more important.
Kessler was named “champion emeritus” by the WBC. After the tournament has concluded, would you like a rematch with him to erase the close loss in your first fight?
If he’s well and physically fine, definitely. That would be a fight I want to get rid of that small blemish on my record. But it’s not something I’m sort of going for and got so much desire for. At the end of the day, I went to his backyard of Herning, Denmark, and did enough to win. I beat the guy. I actually think Kessler knows as well. I had a couple conversations with Kessler since the fight. For all I know, I sleep very well at night with that loss on my record. The great thing about the Super Six is that I now have a chance to get the belt back that was robbed from me.
"Abraham is definitely afraid of me"
By Wolfgang Schiffbauer
On November 27, former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch will face Arthur Abraham in the third and final group stage bout of the Super Six tournament. While both fighters have already secured a spot in the semi-finals, there is still the vacant WBC belt on stake. A title Froch lost to Mikkel Kessler in his last fight. ********* caught up with the hard-hitting Froch en route to his daily training regime and asked the former champion about Abraham, his preparation, the tournament and his thoughts about David Haye and the British boxing scene.
How do you feel about finally stepping into the ring with Arthur Abraham on November 27? Are you excited about the upcoming battle?
I don’t get much excited about any boxing match to be honest, but it’s obviously a top- level fight. It’s a world-class fight. The main exciting thing right now is that the WBC title is on the line. That’s a real big deal.
The fight had to be postponed earlier because you suffered a back injury. Can you tell us what happened?
Unfortunately, I can’t really talk about the bad back because there is an ongoing issue about it. Therefore, I’m better off not talking about it without my lawyer being present. But I’m fully fit now and ready to fight.
Abraham doubted your injury, he said that you might have something in your head and not your back.
Abraham has his own opinion in his own world. He believes that everything he thinks is true, at least in his own mind. For example, he also believed that Andre Dirrell was playing and acting when he cheap shotted him while Dirrell was on the floor. As it turns out, Dirrell suffers from a neurological problem. Hopefully he’s gonna be fit and well. Still, Abraham called Dirrell an actor. I don’t know how Dirrell would benefit from that since he stepped out of the tournament. I believe that proves that he wasn’t acting. And there is absolutely no benefit for me to lie about my bad back. For him to say that I’m lying about my bad back just doesn’t make any sense at all. I think he’d like to think in his own mind that I have an issue with my head because of my first loss to Mikkel Kessler but for your information, I actually took a lot of confidence from that loss to Kessler. One, because I went the distance with a world-class operator and two, I didn’t actually get beat. As far as I’m concerned
I won the fight. It was a very close fight but I did enough to win. If you wanna talk about problems in the head, I’d look at Arthur Abraham. He is up two fights at super middleweight, a new weight division, and he won one and lost one. The one he lost was against somebody whom I actually beat. So I think he’s not mentally ready. I think his head is playing tricks on him.
Do you believe he is afraid of you?
He is definitely afraid of me. It’s his first proper fight with a real puncher at 168. He boxed Jermain Taylor, who was finished. I finished off Jermain Taylor, let’s not forget about that. I gave him a bad beating for the rounds ten, eleven and twelve and ended his career. Now, Abraham went twelve rounds with Taylor and got the knockout in the last round from an exhausted Taylor. He was exhausted from the fight with me, he was ready for retirement. Abraham finished off Taylor’s career but it was already sort of ruined by myself. Abraham’s next fight was with Andre Dirrell and he struggled. He lost every round, he got completely outboxed, and he got outclassed. The knockout came with a cheap shot and a foul, hence the disqualification. So I think Arthur Abraham has got a lot of issues in his head he needs to deal with. If he honestly thinks I pulled a fake bad back, which has cost me a lot of money and inconvenience – and for my family and friends – he’s more ludicrous than everybody thought he was.
So how’s your preparation going for the fight?
My preparation is going very well. I’m ahead of schedule because of the injury. I did eight to ten weeks before the injury, before the fight was delayed to November. So things are very good now. I have very strong sparring partners as well. They are mimicking Arthur Abraham brilliantly. So I’ll be more than ready to fight someone like him.
Some experts consider this a crossroads fight for the two of you. Why are you going to win on November 27?
I think it’s just general ring-class, speed, skills and power. I’ve got a lot of attributes that Abraham hasn’t got. He is a one-dimensional fighter. You know what you get with him. Every time he fights, he does the same thing. He’s quite basic and crude. You know, styles decide. Obviously, I got more experience at super middleweight and I’m bigger and stronger – I’m a lot bigger than him – because I’m a natural super middleweight since the start of my career nine years ago. He’s a middleweight and not a natural 168 pound fighter and like I said before he’s 1-1 at super middleweight. Now he’s ready for his second loss in his third fight. I got the tools to beat him, definitely.
Do you want to make a prediction for the fight?
I’m not a fan of predictions to be honest. At the end of day it’s an elite level fight for a world championship belt, so we both deserve to be in the ring for our reasons. I feel I got what it takes to beat Abraham. I will outbox him and if he tries to step inside, to make it a slugfest, he’ll walk into a lot of shots he’s not used to taking from a fully fledged 168 pound fighter. So either way, whatever he tries, he’s gonna be in serious trouble.
There has been a lot of criticism about the Super Six in the last few months after fights had to be postponed and participants pulling out of the tournament. Do you still rate the Super Six as a great and innovative idea in boxing or did the concept fail?
I still think the tournament is fantastic! SHOWTIME’s job needs to be respected because they’ve attempted to do something here that nobody has done before them. I know that people have pulled out of the tournament but if you look at value the customers get for their money – they are getting world-level fights. Fight after fight, and fights that otherwise might not have happened. I probably wouldn’t have fought Kessler or Abraham. These are top-level fights. Jermain Taylor, Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell – they all fought handpicked opponents and once every tenth fight there was a hard fight. The fans were robbed of so many great fights over the years – as it’s always been in boxing. Like my fight with Joe Calzaghe never happened, nor did Junior Witter face Ricky Hatton or the heavyweight fight between David Haye and the Klitschko brothers right now.
With this tournament, you got six fighters, who are top-level, that probably wouldn’t have fought each other without the tournament. It’s not great that fighters had to pull out due to injuries but it just shows how hard it is at top-level boxing, to maintain the pace at this level. I actually expected a few people to step out be replaced and I don’t think that’s really negative. I really believe the person who comes out of it at the end is the true champion because he has not only beaten everyone who was put in front of him but he also passed the test of time. So whoever will hold the Super Six trophy at the end – which I strongly believe it will be me – can call himself the super middleweight champion of the world.
What about Lucian Bute?
Forget about Bute. He’s fighting unworthy opponents. Who cares about a fight against Jesse Brinkley? Nobody! The people are interested in the Super Six fights. The fighters involved are top-level and world-class fighters and the injuries showed how hard boxing at this level really is. I wouldn’t criticize the tournament at all. It’s a damn shame that people had to pull out because of injuries but those were serious matters and health is more important.
Kessler was named “champion emeritus” by the WBC. After the tournament has concluded, would you like a rematch with him to erase the close loss in your first fight?
If he’s well and physically fine, definitely. That would be a fight I want to get rid of that small blemish on my record. But it’s not something I’m sort of going for and got so much desire for. At the end of the day, I went to his backyard of Herning, Denmark, and did enough to win. I beat the guy. I actually think Kessler knows as well. I had a couple conversations with Kessler since the fight. For all I know, I sleep very well at night with that loss on my record. The great thing about the Super Six is that I now have a chance to get the belt back that was robbed from me.
Hey Carl, the doc's name wouldn't be Shaw High by any chance would it?
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