• Super-middleweight

Froch: Kessler hasn't got a chance

ESPN staff
February 26, 2013
Carl Froch is determined two avenge the two 'blemishes' on his professional record © Getty Images
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Carl Froch has vowed to atone for one of the two 'blemishes' on his career record when he takes on Mikkel Kessler at The O2 in May.

The Nottingham native has billed the rematch as "the biggest British fight of the last decade" and boasts that "Kessler hasn't got much of a chance".

IBF super-middleweight champion Froch lost to WBA champion Kessler in Denmark in 2010, a fight that was almost cancelled with the Nottingham native struggling to reach the continent as the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud grounded commercial flights across northern Europe.

But Froch made it to Herning only to lose his WBC title to a unanimous decision after 12 brutal rounds, a result that still grates to this day.

"There's nothing more boring than listening to excuses but I should have been better if that volcano hadn't put up all that ash in the air," Froch told the Evening Standard. "My flight was cancelled so I had a barbeque and ate some burgers and fizz pop.

"But the day before the weigh-in, I found out they'd put a private jet on for me so I thought, 'Sod it, I'll go'. So I spent the night before in a red-hot bath trying to sweat off the weight and replicate a sauna.

"It left me a little bit drained but I went in thinking I could get him with just one shot. This time I'll be better prepared."

Froch, 35, has the greatest respect for Kessler, who he describes as a fellow "warrior", but is determined to set the record straight on the two defeats of his professional career before haning up his gloves.

He believes the winner should be in position to set up a rematch with Andre Ward, who has beaten both men - though it is a result he finds easier to make his peace with.

"I can let the Ward one go because of the way he fights," Froch added. "Losing to him was almost like being burgled or pickpocketed.

"He's so tricky and fast and Kessler described him as being like a magician or a trickster. I remember losing to Ward and thinking, 'F***ing hell, b******'."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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