by James Slater – 31-year-old WBC super-middleweight champion Carl Froch is proving to be as good as his word when it comes to going after the best possible opposition to face. Since winning the title with a superb showing in a great fight against the then unbeaten Jean Pascal, Froch has shown he is willing to travel to America to get it on with the best fighters out there. Now, following his dramatic, last-round stoppage of former middleweight king Jermain Taylor, Froch has narrowed things down to just two men with regards to his next fight. And the date for his next action will very likely be September 5th.
Talking to BBC, “The Cobra” made it clear he is willing to travel to the States once again, while a fight in his native Nottingham is also a possibility. In a nutshell, Froch will either face the legendary Bernard Hopkins next, or he will face IBF 168-pound champion Lucian Bute. If it’s Hopkins, the fight will take place in Las Vegas; if it’s Bute, the fight will take place in the UK. Either way, and whichever bout Froch takes, the fans are sure to be interested..
“We’re looking for September the 5th and it will be Lucian Bute or Bernard Hopkins – probably Bute,” Froch told BBC East Midlands. “If that’s a fight that can be made then that’s the one I’ll go for because that would be very good financially and it would get my name in the headlines in Las Vegas.”
It’s not clear if Froch, when he says the fight “would get his name in the headlines in Vegas”, is referring to the Hopkins fight. However, Froch has said in the past that a Hopkins fight does interest him, and B-Hop himself has reportedly looked at the fight seriously.
The WBC champion also spoke of his desire to have a big fight in his local Nottingham Trent Arena, but that a potential fight between he and Bute would be too big for that arena.
“If it’s Bute it will be in England,” Froch confirmed. “Whether it will be in The Nottingham Trent Arena I don’t know – it might not have the capacity. I’d love to have it in the [Nottingham Forrest] City ground but in September with the British weather, you’ve got no chance.
“If it’s England it will be The O2 Arena in London, if it’s Hopkins it will be Las Vegas.”
Both fights are very much intriguing match-ups and a win over either man would be great for Froch. If he were to beat Bute, he would have two world titles around his waist. While if Carl were to defeat Hopkins, he would very likely have ended the Philly great’s career.
Either way, Britain’s only reigning world champion will have no trouble whatsoever in getting sufficiently motivated for his next fight!