by James Slater – 31-year-old Carl Froch is certainly thinking big. Not only has he shown the willingness to travel to America to make the first defence of his WBC 168-pound title, he has also made it clear he wants very much to unify his weight class once he wins his April 25th US debut against Jermain Taylor. Froch, in speaking to BBC Sport, has talked about who he wants to fight after he has met “Bad Intentions,” who, he of course feels he will defeat. “The Cobra” wants Canadian Lucian Bute, or more importantly he wants “Le Tombeur’s” IBF super-middleweight championship..
So far, Froch has been as good as his word – avoiding no-one, calling out the best possible opponents and showing he is not afraid to leave his beloved Nottingham to go and fight – and if he keeps it up and keeps winning the 31-year-old will be in danger of becoming known as something of a throwback!
Froch told BBC about his future plans.
“I want to unify the division and [Lucian] Bute is someone who is stopping me from doing that,” Froch said. “If I get through [Jermain] Taylor it is a fight I want and a fight I know I can win.”
Certainly, Bute, 24-0(19) looked somewhat beatable in his last-but-one ring appearance, when he was exhausted and held on to win in controversial fashion against the teak-tough Librado Andrade. However, any thoughts about the Romanian-born warrior who calls Canada his home being a fighter who was on the way down were quashed in Bute’s last fight, when he looked sensational in destroying the big-punching and respected Fulgencio Zuniga. Froch would have some hard night against the man who stopped the Colombian in just four rounds.
But “The Cobra” says he is not being complacent, either about a prospective fight with Bute or in looking past Taylor to get one.
“I’m not complacent,” Froch said. “Taylor’s big and strong and he’s beaten some very good fighters so I’ll have to be in the same shape as I was for the [Jean] Pascal fight. If I am, there’s only going to be one winner – me. Training is going well. I’ve had a few setbacks, such as a twisted ankle, my rib still gives me problems from my last fight and my hand is sore – but that’s an old injury.
“Luckily, I’ve managed to stay clear of anything serious. Boxers are never one hundred percent ready going into any fight but I’ll be ready for Jermain Taylor.”
With all the big plans he is making for the future, Froch had better be!