Froch will put his friendship aside
Carl Froch will disobey his own mother by trying to knock Mikkel Kessler out in Denmark on Saturday despite her urging him to take it easy on his opponent in light of their unlikely friendship.
The WBC super-middleweight champion has enjoyed a cordial relationship with Kessler in the build-up to their second-round clash in the Super Six tournament, with the Nottingham fighter admitting there is "genuine good will" between him and his Danish foe.
Froch said: "I won't be looking at Mikkel Kessler thinking 'what a nice man he is'. I'm not going to go easy on him - even though my mum has asked me to. She said that to both of us at the press conference. She wants us to take it easy on each other!"
The pair clash at the MCH Messecenter in Herning with Froch, 32, looking to keep his belt and build on his victorious opener against Andre Dirrell while Kessler aims to bounce back from November's defeat by Andre Ward.
Froch usually pulls no punches before or during a fight but has found little reason to needle 'The Viking Warrior' ahead of their highly-anticipated showdown, which is being shown in America on Showtime and live on Primetime pay-per-view in Britain.
"I think it's genuine good will between two respected warriors," he explained to Press Association Sport."I actually respect Kessler as a fighter. I do think he's a great fighter and a great bloke. He is a gentleman.
"I've met him a few times and every time I've sat and chatted with him. We've got similar interests like motorcycles, property investment, different stuff we both like such as a bit of snooker, being in warm countries. Our fighting style is quite similar and we're both men's men. So we get on in that sense and when we have had a chat and a laugh we've just gelled, really."
Froch (26-0, 20KOs) added: "That is in no way going to affect my performance though. I've boxed friends before. I don't even look at the guy's face when I'm fighting, I look at the gloves and the arm area to see what's coming at me."
Victory for Froch would keep him on course for a spot in the knockout stage regardless of the outcome of his third group phase contest against German-Armenian Arthur Abraham while defeat for Kessler would leave his chances of progression delicately in the balance.
Kessler (42-2, 32KOs) has gone back to the drawing board following the Ward loss. "I have to change a lot of tactics, of course, but I can't reveal that right now," said Kessler "It's nice not to be the favourite in this tournament. I made my mistake and I just want to get back up and show all my boxing fans from around the world that I am the best super middleweight in the world."
Date published :
23 Apr 2010 - 14:38:44
