Hennessy Boxing: Taylor Vows To KO Froch

© Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing

Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor believes that he can be the first man to deposit Carl Froch on the canvas and then keep him there.

Taylor made his bold prediction in New York today as the two rivals came face to face for the first time ahead of their WBC Super Middleweight title showdown at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on Saturday night.

Froch laughed off his mandatory challenger’s fight forecast, but the former undisputed middleweight champ insists he has the power to end “The Cobra’s” reign.

“If I catch him, he’s going to sleep,” blasted Taylor, who is now campaigning at super middleweight, having lost his middleweight crown to Kelly Pavlik.

“I have found the hunger again and it took fighting Carl for the belt to get it back. At super middleweight, I’m more focused on boxing, because I don’t have to worry about making weight.

“This fight, I want to show the doubters, I want to make a statement. This is a comeback fight for me and will probably be remembered by the outcome. It’s the kind of fight I need.”

However, Froch says he’s not worried about Taylor’s power, with his “Bad Intentions” finishing 17 of his 28 victims inside the distance.

“If he thinks he’s knocking me out, then he should change his name to ‘Bad Predictions’, joked Froch, who added, “The only time Taylor’s put me to sleep was when I watched a couple of his middleweight defences.”

The Nottingham native says he’s enjoying his reign as WBC Super Middleweight Champ and Britain’s only current world champion and he’s determined to maintain that status on Saturday night.

Froch told a large media turnout in New York, “It’s my pleasure to be here in America. I was in Canada for three weeks and I have been here for the last week training. We’ve had a good camp. Sparring has been very intense with guys who were hitting me like Jermain will be.

“Jermain seems very confident, talking about being back and No. 1 but make no mistake. This is my belt, I’m the champion, I ‘m undefeated. Only a few warriors have gone the distance with me. Everyone else hasn’t been able to stay in there.”

Retired champ Joe Calzaghe is tipping Taylor to win, but Froch isn’t losing any sleep over Calzaghe’s prediction. The Welshman was Froch’s predecessor as WBC Champ but vacated the title rather than defend against him.

“Calzaghe didn’t want to fight me,” explained Froch. “When I became the champion, it was vacant and you don’t get as much respect that way for some reason. But I am the WBC super middleweight champion and come Sunday morning, Jermain Taylor will be disappointed that he doesn’t have the belt. I’m showing the Americans what ’The Cobra’ is made of.”

The fight is being broadcast across the U.S. by Showtime and Ken Hershman, the Senior VP at the network, says that Froch and his promoter Mick Hennessy deserve great credit for taking such a dangerous fight on away ground.

“Carl Froch and Mick Hennessy are the champs here,” said Hershman. “They didn’t have to come over here and take this fight. My hat is off to them for coming here and doing this. This is a world class level event with world class level fighters. There are not many fighters that would come over here and do this.

“I’ve been a longtime fan of Jermain Taylor. He is one of the most prolific fighters with one of the most impressive resumes. He has never shied away from a fight and this is a testament of that.”

British and Irish fight fans can watch the fight live via an online pay per view at frochvtaylor.com from 2am GMT in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The pay per view costs £9.95, or €11.00 for Irish viewers, and the fight will be available in both 750kb/s and 1mb/s to give fight fans a true quality streaming experience. For further information visit frochvtaylor.com.

The fight will also be shown on a delayed basis on ITV4 at 8.30pm this Sunday and repeated on ITV1 at 11.15pm the same evening.