Boxing News Boxing News
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Where better to hold a press conference for the grudge match of the year, than the NCCL Galleries of Justice, in Nottingham, England. Undefeated British and Commonwealth Super Middleweight Champion Carl “The Cobra” Froch arrived early and sat in the wooden pews of the court room which dated back to the 1700“s.
The opponent in Froch’s upcoming title defense to be held in Nottingham on November 24, former British Champion and current English titlist Tony Dodson, arrived 15 minutes late with his father.
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Jason Frost, press officer of Froch’s promoter Hennessy Sports, donned a grey wig and sat in the Judge’s position with the Lonsdale Belt taking pride of place. He began proceedings by addressing the boxers, “You have been brought here because on the 24th of November, you are to fight for the Lonsdale Belt; how do you plead?”
There was heckling from the public gallery as supporters for both men added their occasional comment and “Judge” Jason Frost called for “Order In The Court!” This was the first time that Froch and Dodson had actually met, Dodson having withdrawn from three fights scheduled over the last 18 months.
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Dodson talked of Froch’s confidence and said “We’ll see how confident he is on the 24th”.
When Froch was asked if he’d started to get a bit worried when Dodson didn’t show up for the press conference on time, the British and Commonwealth Champion relied by laughing.
The atmosphere between both boxers was tense to start with. Then, Tony Dodson’s father spoke about the times when his son had pulled out of previous fights scheduled. Froch was calm and collected with his comment regarding this and said “Whether there was a good reason or not, Dodson had pulled out of fights, so what were people supposed to think?”
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Froch went onto say that Dodson can’t blame anyone for thinking he was trying to avoid a fight, because that’s how it looked. And Dodson and his father nodded. But Froch did give Dodson respect, “Fair play to him (Dodson), for taking the fight,” he said, and that seemed to be appreciated by the challenger and his father.
Froch insisted that the Lonsdale Belt would be his and would stay with him. Dodson and his followers were amused by this and Tony remarked that there would be “no way”.
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Promoter Mick Hennessy talked about the importance of this fight, saying “There’s a lot at stake.”
Afterwards, as both Froch and Dodson posed for photos, they continuously psyched each other, winding each other up as they came face to face.
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Carl Froch then had further photos taken with four children who were dressed in Victorian costume, to show his support for the “Help A Nottinghamshire Child” campaign for which he is a big supporter.
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The fight, billed as “Outright” is scheduled for November 24 at Nottingham Arena .
