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Froch to fight Kessler in Herning

Carl Froch will defend his title against Mikkel Kessler © Getty Images

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Carl Froch has bowed to pressure and will fight Mikkel Kessler in the Dane's preferred venue of Herning.

WBC super-middleweight champion Froch had said over the weekend that he had no intention of taking the fight to Herning, stating it would be tough for his fans to make the trip. He had made it clear that he would travel to Copenhagen, but after a series of meetings over the past couple of days Kessler's camp have got their way.

"A ring is a ring to me, no matter where myself and Mikkel fight, the outcome will be the same. But my stance on the venue location was nothing to do with ego, or to create aggro for Sauerland (Kalle, Kessler's promoter) - as he is a decent guy - it was to assist my fans to get over to Denmark to support me," Froch told livefight.com.

The MCH Messecenter in Herning holds 10,000 people, compared to smaller venues in Copenhagen, and Froch conceded that the size of the fight required a venue to match.

He said: "The Herning venue holds a minimum of 10,000 compared to the smaller places in Copenhagen which hold about half that; it started to become apparent that the city has no proper venue geared up for a fight of this calibre - wheras this unknown place looked more and more ideal.

"Me versus Kessler is a massive fight in Denmark and some flaky venue that holds five or six thousand was not going to hold everyone. But that said, I'm going to see what we can do for those who are already bound for Copenhagen. Not sure what exactly, but once we know the numbers we can think about that side of things."

Froch will carry an unbeaten record into the fight and is confident he will be able to beat Kessler in front of his own fans. He added: "It's time for me to put aside venue stuff and concentrate and sharpening my tools to go out there and bludgeon my mate Kessler. I genuinely like the guy and respect him outside the ropes. But business is business.

"I'm taller than Kessler, I punch harder than Kessler and i've got more experience than Kessler both as an amateur and a professional."

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