The deadline for purse bids for Carl Froch's first defence of his WBC super-middleweight title against Jermain Taylor looks set to pass.
'Cobra' believes American will duck title shot
The deadline for purse bids for Carl Froch's first defence of his WBC super-middleweight title against Jermain Taylor looks set to pass with the American showing no sign of wanting the fight.
Nottingham fighter Froch has been calling out the former middleweight champion since winning the belt with a thrilling points victory over Jean Pascal in November.
However, despite being the mandatory challenger, Taylor's team has yet to agree to the fight in spite of the lure of a $1.6m payday, with the deadline on Friday.
"Taylor calls himself 'Bad Intentions' but if you ask me it should be 'No Intentions' because I don't think he has any intentions of fighting me," said the outspoken Froch.
Hide and seek
"At this rate the only thing he's going to win any time soon is the world hide and seek title. If anyone's seen him lately I'd be very interested to hear about his whereabouts.
"I'm guessing that he's probably at home in bed with his head under the covers waiting until an easier fight comes along.
"Purse bids for the fight are due on Friday but there's been a deafening silence from Jermain about the fight. You can draw your own conclusions on why that is.
"Look what happened last year, he ducked out of a vacant WBC title fight with me when he could have had a 50-50 share of the purses and instead fought in an eliminator so there's definitely a track record there."
Froch's promoter, Mick Hennessy also feels there's a reluctance on Taylor's part to step up to the plate.
"I've made a formal $1.6 million offer to Taylor's promoter Lou DiBella for him to fight Carl Froch in the UK in either April or June," Hennessy said.
"It would be a massive fight over here and that offer's on the table right now so we can either do a deal or we can wait for the purse bids on Friday."
Kessler waits
"I believe Lou DiBella and Taylor are trying to walk away from this fight and look for the exit door," he added.
If Taylor passes up the opportunity to challenge for the title, WBA champion Mikkel Kessler could be in line for a unification fight later this year.
The Dane's advisor Mike Marley believes Taylor will not agree to fighting Froch but that his man is ready and willing.
The Dane has quickly re-established himself after losing to Joe Calzaghe and is said to be happy to fight in the UK once again to make the match happen.
