21.11.06 – Exclusive interview by Cris Neill: Undefeated super middleweight Carl Froch (photo by Chris Royle) has promised a bruising encounter ahead of his long-awaited clash with arch-rival Tony Dodson on November 24. The fight has been brewing for the past two-and-a-half years, with three scheduled dates cancelled due to injuries cited by Dodson. Highly-touted Froch, 28, the British and Commonwealth champion, says the delay has fuelled his desire to provide a memorable show in front of a vociferous home crowd at the Nottingham Ice Arena.
He told Eastsideboxing: “I want to hit him that little bit harder and that little bit more often. I’m really going to give him a pasting and I just hope the referee doesn’t jump in and save him. I want to give him some meaningful digs and yes there is a little bit of needle there, because I want to smash him if I’m honest.”
“I’m not sure he should be sharing the same ring as me, to be frank. I know he’s going to be fit, and game, and he’s going to come at me and mean business, so he’s not to be taken lightly. He’s also dangerous in the sense that he’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain..
“But there’s no secret or mystery to this game. I’ve got a great trainer in Robert [McCracken] and he teaches and instils me with the knowledge and the confidence that if you do the hard work and if you’ve got the talent – which I’ve got – the results will come your way.”
The signs are certainly there that Froch’s work ethic is starting to pay dividends. An undefeated career has so far seen him notch up victories against the likes of Henry Porras, Matthew Barney, Ruben Groenewald and Brian Magee.
Magee in particular was expected to provide a stiff test of Froch’s resilience, yet the Belfast fighter soon tasted the power of the boxer dubbed ‘The Cobra’.
A brutal right uppercut floored Magee in the first round, and the same punch worked its magic again in the eleventh, which saw Magee stopped for the first time.
Yet Froch also paid a price for the stoppage, in the form of a fractured metacarpal. It joins the list of hand injuries sustained in previous fights, the penalty of hard, accurate punching and ill-fitting gloves.
Dodson has promied a Rocky-style resurgence of the underdog when they meet on Friday, but Froch is determined to spoil a Hollywood ending.
He said: “I could fight Tony Dodson ten times and I’d beat him ten times. I’d knock him out ten times as well. It’s a guaranteed win for Carl Froch, as far as I’m concerned.
I beat McGee, that was a harder fight, looking at Dodson’s record, I don’t see anything on there which tells me he’s a top-level fighter. I’ve already told him to his face that he’s a broken man, and that he’s been beaten by lesser men than me. I’ve seen his eyes; he’s struggling and scared. But a scared man is a dangerous man sometimes.”
Froch’s heavy hitting and well-schooled boxing skills have won him admirers, but doubts have also been raised about his low-slung left. It’s been suggested by commentators such as Jim Watt that this is evidence of a leaky defence, but Froch is quick to refute this:
“This is the same bloke who gives Floyd Mayweather stick – and if he can criticise him then I suppose I’m entitled to get some too, because he’s a great, great fighter. He shrugs off criticism, so I’m not going to get upset about the criticism I receive from Jim Watt.
“I could get upset about Johnny Nelson, making the ridiculous claim that Dodson could win this fight. I could complain about Johnny Nelson; he can’t fight, he runs. He’s lumped in with the Top Ten Worst Fighters In The World. I saw it on TV one night – and he had three of them. And in those fights, all he did was run like a coward, hold, and survive.
“People like Jim Watt and Johnny Nelson, I put it down to jealousy. What they’ve got to realise is that I’m an undefeated fighter, I’ve had nineteen fights, and those sorts of people should be getting behind me. Maybe it’s because I talk myself up a little bit, and I tell people what I think, and I tell them that I want to fight boxers like Calzaghe, then why should people get the hump about it. They should be thinking, bloody hell, this kid’s confident, give him a shot.”
The likelihood of a clash with Calzaghe seems to be receding, as the Welsh fighter seeks a final few lucrative paydays, but Froch is confident that his time will come, and has no doubts at all of the route which lies ahead: “I want to establish myself as a top European fighter, get a fight which is going to put me in the midst of the world.”
Perhaps Friday night will be a step further in that direction.
Carl Froch attempts to win his Lonsdale Belt Outright on November 24th at the Nottingham Arena. Tickets priced £25, £30, £60 and £80 are on sale from the Arena Box Office on 0870 121 0123.