Carl “The Cobra” Froch.

“I know if it does take that long, it’ll give my fans a bit to come and watch and in that time I can get a good couple of digs in and hopefully hurt him. That’s what I wanna do. I wanna cause him some pain.”–Carl Froch reveals to SaddoBoxing what he feels will happen when he catches up with Matthew Barney this Saturday.

Having recently returned from his brief excursion to the United States, Carl Froch had barely time to breathe before being matched with the tricky Matthew Barney, in what is a potential banana peel for the Nottingham man. Having said that, Froch is no fan of Matthew Barney, who he views as something of a

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spoiler. “Barney, for me, he boxes and moves and holds. That’s all he ever does, so I can’t change my opinion on him. I seen him fight Thomas Ulrich and I thought he lost every round,” stated Froch, contradicting what Matthew had told me just days ago. “I just saw him running. Thomas Ulrich looked like he was a bit weight-drained, to be honest. He couldn’t really catch up to him (Barney), but I wasn’t really impressed. In the rounds I saw, I wouldn’t have scored Barney one round, because I don’t score that negative running and holding.”

Whether it was a poor decision or not is up for debate; however, “The Cobra” feels that he is easily a step or two up in class from European light heavyweight champion Thomas Ulrich. He believes that Barney will be faced with problems the likes of which he has never had to deal with. “What he’s got to be worried about is that he’s in with a six-foot-four, long-armed, rangy puncher, in myself. So he’s in big trouble. He’s never been in with anyone like me before. He’ll get the shock of his life when I start raining the shots in.”

Being on the cusp of Superstardom, it is a fight that Froch cannot afford to lose, especially given the recent attention and support garnered from Oscar de la Hoya in the wake of his impressive dismantling of Henry Porras. He feels, as any boxer would, that being involved with “The Golden Boy” will only help his career. Having a true ring legend such as De La Hoya endorse him only validates what Carl has been telling the boxing fraternity since turning professional. It is undoubtedly a moral victory against those who had written off Froch as just another egotistical upstart. “It was great to be around him (De La Hoya) and obviously to be involved in one of his shows. It was a massive boost,” he said.

Froch also puts his recent attention from the boxing media down to the hard work and the faith Hennessy have in him. “I’ve got great backing with Hennessy Sports. He’s the top promoter in Britain, he is. He’s one of the most genuine, honest men you’ll ever meet. He just tries to do the best for his fighters. He wants the best for them. He’s done the best by me all the way through my career. If we get the backing of the television, there’s no stopping us. Hennessy will bring over whatever fighters I need to fight and he will pay good money for the fighters to come over in order to get my career where it needs to be.”

It’s no secret that there is no love lost between Froch and Barney. Froch, on the one hand, has stated that Matthew has been badmouthing him for the last couple of years and has made public his disdain for Barney’s style of fighting. Barney, on the contrary, doesn’t believe he has said anything untoward about “The Cobra,” but concedes that he’s no fan of his opponent’s persona. Froch feels the bad blood goes back to his inception into the professional ranks, however. “It started before I turned professional,” he began. “He said something to me at a boxing show, his dad did. He was talking rubbish about having a massive side bet that his son would beat me. So I just said, “Yeah, whenever you’re ready, I’ll fight him.’ And obviously he’s the mandatory challenger for my belt, so that’s how that started. But he’s got a big mouth anyway. That’s all he can do. He runs his mouth and then he runs when he gets in the ring. He can’t fight, can he, so that’s all he’s gonna do. He tries to intimidate his opponents to try and get some sort of edge on them, but I’m just treating him like anyone else: treating him with a bit of respect and I’m gonna come to the fight and do what I usually do, get myself super fit, super strong and give my opponent a beating. I don’t care who’s in front of me, they’re gonna cop big right hands and big left hooks.”

I’ll leave you with Froch’s characteristically cocksure thoughts on the outcome of the fight. “He can’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag. He’s never been in with someone who punches as hard as me, so when I do connect, he’ll be rolling around on the floor. He’ll have his running shoes on, so it may take six or seven rounds to get to him. I know if it does take that long, it’ll give my fans a bit to come and watch and in that time I can get a good couple of digs in and hopefully hurt him. That’s what I wanna do. I wanna cause him some pain.”

James MacDonald can be reached at ac009b5460@blueyonder.co.uk