FROCH on crutches--great article

Boxing purists admire Carl Froch. Froch is a throwback to when fighters wanted to fight, when the fans came before money and politics, and when matches were made.

We can see through the thinly veiled words of many 'champions' who are more talk and less action and we fail to be impressed by their 'legacies'. Legacies often built on sand.

Nottingham's Cobra is a dying breed, he wants to fight the best - anytime, any place, anywhere. The British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion spoke to BBN from his new home in London, where he's recovering from complicated surgery on his right knee. The undefeated 29-year-old, who should shortly find himself in the WBC number one position, first damaged the leg around four years ago in training. A scan at the time revealed that the anterior cruciate ligament was only partially torn and would in all likelihood heal sufficiently naturally, so after a short rest he went on with the business of storming through the 168lb ranks.

"It's been niggling me for a while now," he says. "I have felt the odd twinge and it's been there in the back of my mind, but it hadn't caused too much of a problem until about three weeks ago. "It's ok though, I'm resting up and having a few lazy days which is nice because for the last five years it's been quite intense.

"It's nice to be relaxing but I'm already able to walk with crutches which has really surprised me because I was told it was going to be a long process.

"It'll be 8/10 weeks before I'm training again though, so I'm keeping myself as active as possible.

"Basically, the knee will be stronger than ever before and I'll be a better boxer than I was before, which doesn't bode well for my next opponent.

"In a few weeks I'll have the full range of movement back in my leg, and if I keep myself fit after that I should be back in the ring this autumn."

By that time Glenn Catley and Robin Reid will have locked horns in their final eliminator for the British title, and Froch can't wait for the winner.

"That'll make for a good final defence of my Lonsdale Belt," he says. "I have always respected Reid; I always thought he had more class than to say one thing to the press and then not back it up behind the scenes. Maybe he's looking for a last payday and he knows I'm the biggest attraction out there.

"He's a bit past it now but he's still got a bit of fight in him, whereas I don't know anything about Catley, other than that he was a WBC champ a few years back. He didn't exactly set the world alight."

A victory over one of these past champs will surely give Froch the title fight he so richly deserves, against either Denmark's Mikkel Kessler or Joe Calzaghe.

"Calzaghe turned down the £1.6m my promoter Mick Hennessey offered him. It's a fight the fans want to see, especially in Britain, but he's not having it," says Carl.

"It would be a defining fight for me as well, these are the fights I want. I'll take anybody on.

"Mikkel Kessler? He is a good champion, he's ambitious and someone I look up to because he's not been protected. Going over to Australia as the champion to fight Anthony Mundine proved that he's not afraid."

Froch wants to see real fights as well as be involved in them, which is why he's so unimpressed with the UK v Contender series.

"I watched Alfonso Gomez fight the other day," he says. "What a joke!" And Amir Khan also came in for criticism. "You look at Amir Khan and it's just ridiculous. He says he wants everyone and they stick him in with men who won't punch back, they're just cannon fodder. It's difficult to take him seriously.

"I want Amir to go on and win titles but he won't do it like this. But at least he has the backing of ITV. My fights were being shown on the BBC, they gave me exposure and a lot of people were getting behind me.

"Then Audley Harrison fought another 'bum' and that was it, they pulled the plug."

Froch admits he enjoyed the trappings that TV brings, but he's not so keen on watching other boxers on the small screen.

"I must admit I've never been that into watching boxing because I end up shouting at the TV when these dull fights are on.

"What got me into the sport was watching Naseem Hamed, he was an entertainer and I even travelled to Las Vegas to watch him fight Marco Antonio Barrera.

"I didn't have much money and anything I did have was lost in the casino, so that wasn't a great experience. I lost money gambling and on Hamed!"

Hamed may be long gone and Khan a pretender to his throne, but for now Froch feels he's more than capable of keeping his tag as one of the most entertaining - albeit super-confident - boxers in Britain. I found him amiable and engaging, a far cry from the cocky, swaggering character I expected.

"I look at myself and can't see how I'll be beaten," says Carl. "Slipping in and out, uppercuts from out of range, power shots - I just feel so comfortable in there and a lot of that is inspired by Hamed's style.

"I have been accused of being cocky or arrogant, I know that, but when the adrenaline's pumping and you get out of the ring after a good performance (his last offering was the second round destruction of Russian Sergey Tatevosyan) you want people to eat a bit of humble pie, especially those who don't think much of you.

"A bit of cockiness might come out but I'm still focused, largely because of my excellent trainer Robert McCracken.

"I am confident now but I wasn't really as an amateur, despite winning a medal at the worlds and two ABA titles. It's a learning curve I guess.

"But I will always back it up because I'm the genuine article. If I say I'm going to beat Joe Calzaghe it's because I will. I'm not one of those guys who says something and means the opposite - I'm the real deal."

Martin Williams
www.britishboxing.net