Hennessy Sports promoted Carl Froch has vowed to be at the top of his game on Friday night, (February 17th), at the York Hall in Bethnal Green to overcome Commonwealth title challenger Dale Westerman and line up a massive 2006. The 28-year-old from Nottingham has been watching videos of his tough Australian opponent, so fully appreciates the threat he poses to the major title aspirations that he believes he is close to fulfilling.

"Westerman looks a proper rough handful," appraised Froch. "He is stocky, can punch a bit and will come to have a go. He is going to be strong because he is coming down from light heavyweight and he is going to be in the shape of life because he has had plenty of notice.

"He really mills in there and throws a lot of shots on the inside. He is going to want to drag me into a real war, so it’s going to be exciting to watch. But I am going to use all of my boxing skills to overcome him. I will be ready for anything he brings."

If he isn’t, Westerman will be more than happy to ruin his first appearance in EAST TWO for almost three years.

The 36-year-old, who is experiencing something of an Indian Summer, has form for spoiling parties.

In his penultimate fight he travelled to Japan to beat local favourite Yoshinori Nishizawa, who had previously floored and run WBC champion Markus Beyer close. Two before that he had won in China to kick start the title run that he hopes will culminate in a world title shot.

Froch has ideas of his own on that score, but knows that first things must come first:

"This is going to be a big year for me," he added. "Within the next 12 months I want the winner of Calzaghe-Lacy, but I have to get past Westerman before I can think about other fights seriously, including my British title defence against Brian Magee.

"This is not some warm-up that I can afford to coast. This is a genuine championship defence that I’ve taken because I want to prove myself against the best challengers out there. If anything I think Westerman is a tougher opponent than Magee. My main focus has to be on him."

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