FROCH AND DIRRELL HURL INSULTS IN NOTTINGHAM

Posted on | October 16, 2009 | No Comments

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The Two Super Six Fighters Meet Face-to-Face

NOTTINGHAM, England (October 15, 2009)—Tensions mounted in Nottingham on Wednesday during the final press conference for Super Six World Boxing Classic participants Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell.

Froch turned up approximately 15 minutes late for the midday press conference. Dirrell and his promoter Gary Shaw took that as a sign of great disrespect. The stage was set for a verbal explosion once the conference finally got underway.

During the tradition post-conference faceoff photo opportunity, Dirrell taunted and laughed in the face of Froch.

The two have traded verbal jabs for weeks as the intensity builds toward this Saturday’s showdown at Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, England, live on SHOWTIME® at 8 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). The live Froch vs. Dirrell fight will air immediately following the Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor bout, shown on tape-delay from the o2 World Arena in Berlin Germany .

Quotes from the Press Conference:

Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KOs), WBC Super Middleweight World Champion of Nottingham

“My fans, the people of Nottingham and I think the boxing fans around the world know what I’m capable of and what I’m about. I’ve proved that time and time again. I’ve fought top quality opposition throughout my career and made short work of 80% of them.”

“Andre Dirrell certainly talks a good fight but 25 of my previous opponents also talked a lot of trash and it didn’t get them anywhere. Talk is cheap and I’m not going to get involved in a slanging match. The fists are going to do the talking on the night.”

“I don’t get wound up by words and Dirrell has had a lot of words to say. I met him in New York three months out from the contest and we exchanged friendly banter, handshakes and hugs because fight time’s not really on the agenda at that point. But the minute my back was turned I was reading a lot of trash in the papers and seeing interviews on the internet. Andre Dirrell and his team lack class as far as I’m concerned. The language has been bad, the banters been terrible and I don’t want to get involved in any of that nonsense.”

“He knows he’s in deep water on Saturday night. He knows that once I start connecting with the bombs he’s going to be in serious trouble. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to run and run scared but it’s twelve by three minutes rounds and I will catch up with him and when I do I’m going to do some serious damage.”

“You all know the script, you know what’s happening, you know what’s coming. I bring it every time and I’ll be brining it Saturday night. I’m looking forward to it, I cannot wait. That belt’s going nowhere, it’s staying in Nottingham .

“I’d like to thank the fans because we’re looking at a full house of 8,000 screaming people. The fans know that they’re in for a good night and hopefully Andre Dirrell has trained as hard as he says he has because that means he might be fit enough to go an extra round or two when the bombs start landing. The one thing the fans know that with my style it’s always going to be an exciting night so they’ll get value for money and I’ll return their support with a great performance.”

Andre Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs), 2004 U.S. Olympic Bronze Medalist of Flint , Mich.

“We had an excellent camp. I worked my ass off and now its time to shine. I’ve been working hard my whole life but I put in the extra ten yards for this camp so that I could come here and do what I’ve been dreaming of for 16 years and that’s to bring back the WBC title. Froch currently holds that title and he’s a hell of a fighter but I will be Champion and I will make short work of him.”

“I hope he cherishes the title now because it will be coming home to the United States with me and I will prove that I’m the superior being. I’m taking that belt home, guaranteed. I’m giving my word right now.”

“The crowd won’t get a chance to do nothing. The loudest person in there, no disrespect to Carl Froch at all will be his mother because she’ll probably be crying. The fans I will silence because I’ll be in there doing my job 100%.”

Mick Hennessy of Hennessy Sports:

“It’s an incredible tournament that’s set to transcend boxing and I’m delighted to be associated with it. I believe it’s the best thing to happen to the sport in at least the last 20 years.”

“It’s a throwback fight, an absolutely brilliant contest between a young, hotshot American who’s unbeaten and a former Olympic medallist who is very, very highly thought of in the U.S. He’s up against the current WBC Champion, the best belt in the business, and the best 168 pound fighter on the planet right now in Carl Froch. It really is something to behold.”

“It’s going to be a hell of an event at the Trent FM Arena on Saturday night. We’re almost sold out, we’re down to the last few tickets right now. Not only has it got a very good undercard and a classic main event but the fans will also get to see on the big screens another mega fight from the O2 World Arena in Berlin between Arthur Abraham and Jermain Taylor, another classic Super Six fight. Of course for the fans at home both fights will also be available live on Primetime, Sky channel 480.”

Gary Shaw of Gary Shaw Productions:

“I want to thank Ken Hershman and Showtime for establishing this great tournament with six truly world class fighters. There are no losers and the big winners from this tournament aside from the fighters will be the fans. The great thing about this tournament is that we don’t just have great fights this weekend, we’ll have great fights one after the other throughout this tournament.”

Robert McCracken (former British and Commonwealth Champion and Froch’s trainer)

“Training’s gone really well. Obviously people close to Carl knew there were problems before the Jermain Taylor fight with the ankle injury. He missed four weeks running over that. He was around 70% for that one but he’s smack on for this one. He’s going in at 100%, everything’s good. He’s doing what he normally does and he’s looking awesome in the gym.”

“It’s the same for all these guys, Pascal, Taylor and Dirrell. They watch Carl on tape and think, I can do this or that with him but once the fight starts they realise how awkward he is and how hard he hits. It’s a different ballgame. Dirrell’s a good kid, a good talent but he’s not fought anybody anywhere near the class of Carl. He isn’t ready, it’s that simple. I’m sure he’ll give it his best on the night but it won’t be good enough so the Cobra will retain his title.”

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For more information on the Super Six World Boxing Classic including exclusive videos, photography, expert analysis from Al Bernstein and Steve Farhood, and much more please visit www.WorldBoxingClassic.com.

About SUPER SIX WORLD BOXING CLASSIC

The inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic is a ground-breaking, six-fighter tournament from SHOWTIME Sports® featuring the class of the super middleweight (168-pound) division. The field is comprised of world renowned fighters with a staggering combined record of 161-4-1 with 117 knockouts: former IBF middleweight champion “King” Arthur Abraham of Germany; U.S. Olympic medalist Andre “The Matrix” Dirrell of Flint, Mich.; WBC super middleweight champion Carl “The Cobra” Froch of England; WBA 168-pound champion Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler of Denmark; former undisputed 160-pound world champion Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor of Little Rock, Ark.; and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Andre “S.O.G.” Ward of Oakland , Calif.

All bouts in the Super Six World Boxing Classic will be contested under the Unified Rules of Boxing. Each boxer fights three bouts against different opponents in the field in the points-based Group Stage of competition (Win – 2 pts with a 1-pt bonus for KO/TKO; Loss – 0 pts; Draw – 1 pt.). After the Group Stage, the four fighters with the highest point totals will advance to the single-elimination Semi-Finals. The winners of the Semi-Final bouts will advance to the Finals and fight for the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic trophy.

About Showtime Networks Inc.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.