The on-going spat between two Hall of Famers promoter Frank Warren and former fighter Carl Froch has continued with Warren now telling Froch to “sue me.”
The issue is whether or not Froch “ducked” a fight with unbeaten Welshman Joe Calzaghe back in the 2000s. It was a heavily touted super middleweight match-up that sadly never materialised.
The last round in this latest war of words comes after Warren suggested that “Froch came to meet me to discuss a Calzaghe fight and all [he] was interested in was when Calzaghe was stepping up to light heavyweight because [he] didn’t want to fight him.”
Froch denies that, saying on TalkSport he was the mandatory challenger. “It’s a slander on my name. I’m surprised someone of his age would come out with these pure lies.”
“Ugh, God, the ‘Frok’,” says Warren when Froch’s name is first mentioned to him by IFL TV. He then goes on to lay out what he sees as the facts.
According to Warren’s diary, that meeting happened on July 12 2006. At the time, Froch was the British and Commonwealth champion, IBF number seven, WBO number three, and in the WBC he was ranked number 3.
“He wasn’t the mandatory to Joe Calzaghe at all. Using his phrase, he’s a lair. Go and dig the ratings out. He was never the mandatory when he came down [to London.]”
Warren continues to explain that in April 2007 he was calling for an eliminator, not a fight with Calzaghe.
“If he can show me any letters he wrote asking as a mandatory to fight Calzaghe then I’ll apologise. But there aren’t any. He was calling for an eliminator against Dennis Inkin and the winner would become mandatory. He didn’t become mandatory until September 2007, well over a year after [that meeting.] In November 2007 they had the final eliminator against Inkin to fight Calzaghe. That is what happened. They are facts.”
Warren claims he offered Froch a “career high purse” to fight Calzaghe which Froch knocked back.
“He chose not to fight him. The fact of the matter is, all I’ve told you is the truth. 2006, when we met, he was not the mandatory. He’s a liar. Sue me. Keep on telling lies and you’ll have to get your nose done again. You’ll end up like a half-chewed Wine Gum the way you’re going on.”
It seems unlikely the truths about this historic mandatory situation will be the end of this on going feud.