British boxer Carl Froch is preparing to be the first boxer to stop the hardy Russian fighter Sergey Tatevosyan when the pair meet tonight.
Froch is the British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion and he is hoping to increase his world title credentials when he fights Tatevosyan at the Nottingham Arena.
Unbeaten 29 year old Froch said: “There is nobody left on the domestic scene who wants to know me now so it is all about moving on a world title shot.
“We have a plan and this opponent has been selected with the future in mind.”
Froch denied a fight for the European boxing title but he is looking to make the most out of this non-title bout.
A career best KO came for Tatevosyan against Dane Rudy Markussen in October and he then went on to go the distance with Lucien Bute in Montreal, who was a possible future opponent for Froch.
Froch added: “Tatevosyan is a difficult, well-schooled fighter who can punch a bit.
“This is the type of fight where I can really cement my status with the various sanctioning bodies for a world title eliminator.”
Froch is no ranked at number 5 by the IBF and he comes in third place in the WBC and WBO rankings so he thinks he is close to reaching his potential and getting a world title.
“I’ve always been a late developer and I am just coming into my peak now,” said Froch
“I feel physically stronger and tactically and technically I am still working on stuff and learning.”
Carl Froch beat Tony Dodson in November to retain his British and Commonwealth titles but he says that Wales’ WBO champion Joe Calzaghe is the man he really wants to meet.
“I’m high up in the rankings but Calzaghe is the one I’m interested in,” he added.
Calzaghe, defends his WBO crown against America’s Peter Manfredo in Cardiff on 7 April.
Froch may get a shot at Calzaghe in the future, but for now I think that he has a fair bit still to prove. If he could win say the European title as well and/or beat a couple of high class American boxers, then this would raise his profile enough to warrant a fight with Calzaghe. If you haven’t got a big profile then you wont get big fights and that is why Peter Manfredo has got this fight with Joe Calzaghe. It is not because of what he has achieved in boxing, he has achieved very little, it is because of his celebrity status and well known profile which was helped largely by the TV show “The Contender”.
What do you think?
