• Super-middleweight

Froch: Kessler rematch looking good for 2013

Carl Froch says he will fight Mikkel Kessler in 2013 © PA Photos

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IBF super-middleweight champion Carl Froch is confident a rematch against Mikkel Kessler will happen in 2013, after the Dane beat Brian Magee on Saturday.

Froch was watching as a television pundit as Kessler joined him as a three-time world champion in the division, after he defeated the Northern Irishman to claim the WBA strap.

The Englishman has not hidden his desire to fight Kessler and Andre Ward - the only two men he has lost professional fights to - over the next 12 months, and believes the Dane will be the first to meet him.

Froch revealed that he had already enjoyed positive talks with Kessler about a rematch on British soil, with the win over Magee removing a potential barrier to the eagerly-anticipated contest.

"Step one is complete. We've had quite a productive conversation already about a fight in the spring, or possibly the summer of 2013," Froch told Sky Sports. "If Brian Magee had won it would have upset the applecart.

"The only sensible fan out there for me and Mikkel is the rematch. The first fight was a humdinger."

The Nottingham fighter suggested that Lucien Bute is preparing to turn down his own impending right to a rematch, paving the way for he and Kessler to book a meeting within the next few months.

While admitting he is good friends with Kessler - he even advised his rival to punish Magee with body shots - Froch warned the super-middleweight that he would be the loser in their second meeting.

"If you come to the UK, you'll be leaving that black belt with me," Froch said. "Get yourself over here and we'll give the fans what they want!"

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.