Fighter Froch up there with best of British – trainer

TOP trainer Robert McCracken says Carl Froch now ranks up there with the 'Best of British'.

"He is right up there, he really is," said McCracken, who masterminded GB's success at the London Olympics.

"When you look at the quality of the opposition recently – Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Mikkel Kessler, Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, even Andre Dirrell, what a difficult fighter to have to get past – you have to take your hat off to him.

"Carl handled Pascal well and he went on to win the world light-heavyweight title.

"We had a lot of problems getting to the Kessler fight in Denmark. Some people thought Carl had won; some thought Kessler took it. But it was a great fight."

McCracken says the Ward fight rankles with him. He said: "Carl did not go in there with the right frame of mind. But he will get it right next time.

"Carl is different to most boxers. He genuinely likes a fight, even in sparring. It is in his DNA, part of his make up.

"He still fights like a 22-year-old. He has a different mindset to most boxers. Some do it because it is their job, the only way they can make a living.

"But Carl is a genuine fighting man; a throwback to the likes of Jake La Motta and Carlos Monzon. People like that.

"Monzon's brother was killed on the day he went through with a defence of his world title, a 15-rounder. To a normal person, the very thought of that is odd. Everything would fall apart. But they're real fighters.

"There are boxers and there are fighters.

"If you look back at the old fighters like them, they fought as if their lives depended on it, as if they didn't win, their kids were going to starve.

"There are hardly any boxers who fight that way now. There's nobody that I've encountered in boxing with the drive of Carl Froch."

McCracken says it is ridiculous that The Cobra is not rated in the Top 10 of pound for pound boxers in the world.

"The reality is that Carl should be about No.7," he added. "I think Chad Dawson is No.9 or No.10 and he lost to Pascal!"

For his part, Froch says he would love to have fought gruelling 15-rounders just like the old-time greats.

"It would have suited me," he said. "I come on strong at the end of a fight because of my natural fitness. You can often see the other guy weakening. Rob sees it in their eyes and I see it."

Froch feels, that pound for pound, he is now the best fighter in Great Britain.

"I'm very satisfied now," he said. "after the last two or three fights 99.9 per cent of people on Twitter, which is quite a big thing now, support me. I don't seem to get the horrible abuse some people get."

As is the norm now, Froch hit minor snags before the big fight.

He had a couple of trips to hospital to get his troublesome eye problem corrected.

And he also caught an elbow on his nose in sparring with Courtney Fry which needed butterfly stitches.

"It is nothing," said Froch. "It is healing well. It is not a problem."

It was a bad night for Nottingham boxers at Ice Sheffield.

Cruiserweight Tamai Harding, making his long-awaited pro debut, was stopped after 1.15 of the second round by another rookie, Matthew Brierley.

And stable-mate Simone Lucas was pipped on points, 38-39, by Dave Fidler. Lucas, who slips to 21-4-14-3, had Fidler down in the first.

Meanwhile Alfreton-based Ovill McKenzie had a controversial win over Enzo Maccarinelli. McKenzie retained his Commonwealth light-heavweight title at Liverpool Olympia when he stopped the former world champion in the second round.

Maccarinelli was under fire on the ropes, but not in serious trouble, when referee Ian John Lewis suddenly stepped in.

Expect the Board to order a re-match.