Carl Froch believes he can become a household name by winning the WBC Super-Middleweight Title live on ITV1 on Saturday night. ‘The Cobra’ feels he is in the “shape of my life” for his world title showdown against Jean Pascal at the Trent FM Arena Nottingham on Saturday. Froch is back in his home city of Nottingham after last week returning from his training camp at the Breaffy House Resort Hotel in Castlebar, Ireland, where he spent five weeks with trainer Rob McCracken and the Hennessy Sports team..
Pascal (Canada) has prepared for the fight by training in the warmer climate of Arizona, USA, but Carl claims he could not have had a better training camp.
“This is a massive fight and I know that winning this belt will set up more big fights for me and make me a household name,” said ‘The Cobra’.
“ITV1 are showing the fight live at 10.45pm on December 6th and with their help, I know that I can become a household name by winning the WBC title, which is the most prestigious world title belt out there. Once I win this belt, people all over the country will get behind me and I’m ready to do the business on Pascal.
“When you get to the very top level, like this fight, you have got to make sure you are in absolutely top condition so we haven’t taken any short cuts with the training.
“This is the biggest fight of my life and I’ve been waiting for this moment since I had my first fight as an amateur so I wanted the best preparation possible, and that’s what I got. I’m in the shape of my life, things couldn’t have gone better.
“I wanted to get away from home and the Breaffy House Resort had everything that I needed to get myself in the perfect condition to do a number on Pascal.
“The quality of air in County Mayo was superb, perfect for my runs and there were no distractions so I could just keep my mind on the job at hand. Pascal has the fight of his life on his hands, this is trench warfare.”
Big Fight Live starts at 8.45pm on ITV4 & Carl’s WBC title fight is live on ITV1 at 10.45pm
Tickets are available from the 24 hour Box Office at the Trent FM Arena on 08444 124 624 or via www.trentfmarenanottingham.com
Team USA Claims Four Medals at the 2008 AIBA Women’s World Championships
Vanessa Jackson and Mioshia Wagoner Win Silver While Cynthia Moreno and Tiffanie Hearn Take Home Bronze
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Four international newcomers took home hardware from the 2008 AIBA Women’s World Championships, November 22-29 in Ningbo City, China. Welterweight Vanessa Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) and light heavyweight Mioshia Wagoner (Lawrence, Kansas) both won silver medals in their first World Championships. Bantamweight Cynthia Moreno (Phoenix, Ariz.) and heavyweight Tiffanie Hearn (Louisville, Ky.) took home bronze medals in their World Championships debuts.
Jackson and Wagoner both recorded two victories in Ningbo en route to a berth in the final round. Jackson opened the tournament with an 11-5 victory over Australia’s Naomi-Lee Rasmussen-Fischer in quarterfinal competition to advance to a semifinal bout with China’s Qian Wang. She earned a 10-4 decision over the home country boxer to move on to a championship round contest with former World Champion Mary Spencer of Canada. Spencer won a 9-2 decision over Jackson in their championship bout, giving the silver medal to Jackson.
Wagoner’s quarterfinal bout featured a match-up with Egypt’s Nadia Mohamed with Wagoner claiming a 10-4 decision over Mohamed. She moved on to a semifinal contest with Romania’s Fetti Paraschiva in her second bout of the tournament. Once again, Wagoner emerged victorious, taking an 8-4 decision to join Jackson in the final round. Wagoner faced China’s Jie Li Tang in the championship bout, but dropped an 11-1 decision to take the silver medal.
Moreno entered the tournament fresh off a gold medal at the Women’s Pan American Championships and she continued her winning ways early in the tournament. The 18-year-old won three bouts on her way to a bronze medal, beginning with a 10-4 victory over Germany’s Cindy Metz in the opening round. She went on to win a convincing 15-3 decision over Mongolia’s Suvd-Erdene Oyungerel in her second round contest to advance on to a quarterfinal match-up with Kumari Sushma. Moreno’s winning streak continued in that bout as she claimed a 5-3 decision to earn a berth in the semifinals. Yet her run of victories ended in the semifinal round as she dropped a 10-0 decision to Engand’s Nicola Adams to take home a bronze medal.
Hearn needed only one victory to earn a spot in the semifinals, and she recorded a convincing 12-2 win over Poland’s Sylwia Kuziak to join her three teammates in the medal round. Hearn faced Turkey’s Semsi Yarali in the semifinals and fell just short, dropping a 7-5 decision. Yet her efforts earned Hearn a bronze medal.
The four medals won by the U.S. team are the most for the nation since the inception of the Women’s World Championships in 2001 in Scranton, Pa. Coaches Ted Palac (Hamtramck, Mich.), Harry Thomas (Stafford, Texas), and Bonnie Canino (Dania Beach, Fla.) led the U.S. team into competition in Ningbo City. Krysti Rosario (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) served as Team Manager for the event with Mike Rosario (New York, N.Y.) working as the AIBA Official and Dr. George Palmer (Scottsdale, Ariz.) joining the squad as the Team Physician.
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
WELCOME HOME ANDRADE: OLYMPIAN IMPRESSIVE IN FRONT OF HOMETOWN
December 1, 2008
2008 Olympian Demetrius Andrade improved his record to (2-0, 2KO) with a 4th round TKO of Eric Marriott (0-2) in front of his home state of Rhode Island, at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI.
Andrade stalked his opponent calmly from the opening bell, landing clean combinations to both the body and head. Andrade, who was fighting for the first time as a professional in his home state of Rhode Island, put on a real show for those in attendance. Andrade completely dominated Marriott for the entire fight, finally stopping him 50 seconds into the fourth and final round.