Froch finds a new target

Carl Froch has been calling out Joe Calzaghe for the past three years, but deep down the British super-middleweight champion knows he is unlikely ever to get his shot at the boxer many believe is Britain’s best ever.

It was always with a mixture of admiration and regret that Froch, 30, watches Calzaghe box. He has never tried to play down Calzaghe’s ability, but there are few with the self-confidence of Froch and he always believed he might be the man to finally beat him.

Calzaghe’s win over Mikkel Kessler and elevation into the sport’s super league at the weekend only emphasised that point. Still, Froch was honest enough to praise Calzaghe and knows he could benefit from the raised profile Calzaghe’s win gave the sport.

"I thought he did very well,” Froch said. “He had a couple of difficult rounds but he looked very classy. There were rounds in the fight that Kessler looked like he would take over, but he wasn’t able to sustain it. Maybe it was because he was tight at the weight, maybe it was because of Calzaghe’s workrate.”

If he can’t get to Calzaghe, Froch, who defends his title against Robin Reid at Nottingham Arena tonight, could end up facing Kessler for a vacant world title belt should Calzaghe decide to move up in weight.

"I’ve been of the opinion for a year or so that Joe does not want to fight me, for whatever reason,” Froch said. “Whether he does not think that it would be financially rewarding enough or whether he thinks my big shots will knock him out and end his career on a big down, I don’t know. I would be willing to chase him up to the light-heavyweight division – that doesn’t scare me.”

Before that he has to beat Reid, who is the biggest name he has faced in a professional career that so far has seen him win all 21 bouts. He is not taking Reid lightly and admits to having once been a fan.

"When I was 22 or 23 and a top amateur, Robin was at his peak and I used to watch all his fights,” Froch said. “I was cheering him on against Calzaghe and I thought he did beat him. I never take any opponent lightly. But I think Robin Reid at his best can be easily outboxed – he’s a fighter who stands in front of you and throws hooks. And Robin is no longer at his best.

"I’m on the fringe of crossing over into the mainstream. My name is not often mentioned outside boxing circles, but in the next 12 months I’m going to have a big world title belt strapped around my waist.”

Also on tonight’s bill, John Murray, the unbeaten Manchester lightweight, has every incentive as he faces Dean Hickman for the vacant English title on tonight’s bill. If he wins well and comes through unscathed, Murray, 22, whose younger brother, Joe, has qualified for next year’s Olympics, will be boxing in Las Vegas on the eve of Ricky Hatton’s superfight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

It will not be new territory for Murray, the 2006 Young Boxer of the Year, who beat Lorenzo Bethea on the undercard of Mayweather’s win over Oscar De La Hoya in May.

Sky Sports 1 show tonight’s action live at 10pm.