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Carl Froch has spent much of his career fighting without the home exposure of the UK's biggest boxing network, Sky Sports, but now that he's got a new promoter and a new lease on his career, Froch is hoping that he can finally become the star he feels he deserves to be. This is what he told Steve Bunce:
"I've been trying to get back on Sky for a long time now and things are looking good as they will show my next fight against Johnson," he said. "I don't think I've had the right accolades or the right recognition - that is all about to change.
... "That will catapult me to super stardom I hope. I don't want to be the country's best kept boxing secret. I don't want to be a secret. I want to be out there, to crossover from being a boxer on the back pages to the front pages and become the big superstar I deserve to be. That would be impossible fighting on lesser channels."
Froch also warns countryman Amir Khan that if he falls out of favor with Sky, he could lose some notoriety quickly. But I don't think Froch has the right perspective on Khan, either. Sure, Amir should be aiming to fight on Sky in the UK, but Khan is being lined up as a major player for HBO in the United States. There's a difference in the way Khan -- who is promoted by the US-based Golden Boy -- is being sold than the way Froch has been and will be sold. Froch left Hennessy Sports, and with good reason, but then signed with Matchroom. While Matchroom has indeed become a suddenly very serious firm in the UK, and they're doing some great work, they don't have the US connections that Khan does. Khan might slip in the UK, but he's not targeting the UK the same way Froch is, who seems more concerned with his stardom there than in the States, and I don't think Khan feels the same.
Still, Khan should sort out whatever problems he might still have with Sky after their spat in April. It just means more money for him.
As an aside, you know what I just remembered? Carl Froch turns 34 on July 2. Not a youngster anymore, and it's good he could finally get the recognition he truly does deserve for the tough schedule and good fights he's provided in the last few years.