• Super-middleweight

Froch ridicules 'lamb to the slaughter' Stevenson

ESPN staff
January 10, 2013

IBF super-middleweight champion Carl Froch has promised Adonis Stevenson will be a 'lamb to the slaughter' if the pair meet in the ring in 2013.

Stevenson has worked himself into position to be the mandatory No. 1 challenger to Froch's title, putting him in line for the next contest against 'The Cobra' - although Froch would prefer to avoid the meeting to concentrate on sought-after rematches against divisional rivals Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward.

Stevenson appears keen to push for the bout, however, saying this week that he was confident he could knock Froch out inside the distance.

But Froch has warned that the 35-year-old would be stepping up far beyond his class if he got into the ring with the Nottingham fighter.

"Is that what he said, he would knock me out?" Froch said, according to livefight.com. "Well a tiger does not lose sleep over the opinion of a sheep - and trust me, Adonis will be a lamb to the slaughter.

"I wish him no harm, but if he comes to fight then he will be blitzed in a handful of rounds. My opponents have two choices when they fight me; They can either run, hold and take a decision or they can actually fight and get smashed up.

"With the greatest of respect, Adonis is not a fleet-footed fighter - he will come throwing those big bombs and we could have a nice little war, if it is him next of course and not Kessler."

Stevenson is eager to exploit his status as mandatory challenger - recently saying he would only be prepared to allow Froch to fight Kessler first if he is guaranteed the next meeting with the winner.

An agreement on a fight for Froch to fight the Dane at the start of the summer is believed to be getting closer to being finalised, but the three-time world champion may also yet find himself called upon by Lucian Bute to give him the mandatory rematch the former champion still has a right to following their one-sided first meeting.

Against those two meetings Stevenson ranks as a distant third priority for Froch, although he maintains he would have no problem giving the Haiti-born man the fight and showing him who is boss.

Froch added: "I do give Adonis respect, he has fought his way to the No. 1 spot and, as everyone knows, I avoid nobody.

"He has been vocal in demanding the fight and that to me shows he has the appetite for it, which is to be commended. But he would get smoked. End of story."

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