British Boxing: Mick Hennessy Says Setanta Didn’t Make Offer For Froch vs. Taylor

Carl Froch’s promoter Mick Hennessy has moved to set the record straight regarding comments on Steve Bunce’s Boxing Hour show yesterday which appeared to suggest that Setanta had made an offer for the rights to screen Froch’s upcoming world title showdown with Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor.

The “Cobra” makes the first defence of his WBC World Super Middleweight title at the MGM Grand in Connecticut on April 25 against former undisputed middleweight champ Taylor and the fight will be available live and exclusive on frochvtaylor.com after Britain’s broadcasters turned down the opportunity to screen the clash.

However, Hennessy explained that all other avenues were exhausted before he made the decision to make the fight available via an online pay per view. “Since Steve Bunce’s show yesterday, people have been asking me why didn’t I accept Setanta’s offer, but the fact is there never was an offer from Setanta,” said Hennessy.

“To be honest, a fight of this magnitude shouldn’t need selling to a broadcaster, but I have worked very hard to try and get a TV deal for this fight. On last week’s show, Steve Bunce said that Setanta were in the running to show the fight, but they had already said by that stage that they didn’t want the fight.

“I’ve spent an awful lot of time talking to Setanta about this fight. They market themselves as ‘The Home of Boxing’, so I find it baffling that they didn’t even make an offer to screen Britain’s only world champion in one of the biggest fights for British boxing in years.

“Carl is putting his money where his mouth is by travelling to the U.S. and laying it all on the line against one of the biggest names in world boxing. That tells you everything you need to know about Carl’s ambitions in the sport.

“It’s unfortunate because we have a situation in boxing where a lot of champions out there are only too happy to defend bogus titles against unworthy challengers. Carl is breaking the mould here by going to the U.S. in his first defence to take on a star name like Taylor, but his bravery hasn’t been encouraged or rewarded by the U.K. broadcasters stance on this fight. “

Hennessy believes that fight fans watching the action via online Pay Per View at frochvtaylor.com will be rewarded with one of the fights of the year.

“It’s an absolutely massive fight and we’re delighted to be working with Omnisport.tv

and Perform who are industry leaders in providing high quality internet streaming and I think boxing fans will be very pleased with the results on frochvtaylor.com ,” he said.
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“Carl is fresh from one of the fights of 2008 when he won the title against Jean Pascal and I truly believe he’ll actually better that performance against Taylor. It promises to be a great fight and I think Carl is going to deliver an historic performance to really establish himself on the world stage.”

Froch’s super fight with Taylor will be available to watch live and exclusive online via pay per view at frochvtaylor.com

The pay per view costs just £9.95, or €11.00 for Irish viewers, and will give fight fans an opportunity to see one of the most eagerly awaited world title fights of the year. For more information visit: frochvtaylor.com.