CARL FROCH has a well-deserved reputation for bravery, considering some of the thrilling wars he?s waged in his career. But one man is questioning his courage, Jimmy Montoya, the new trainer of Mikkel Kessler, whom Froch will face in Denmark on Saturday (April 24).
?I don?t think he?s too brave, I think he?s got a bit of chicken in him,? Montoya said. ?When you hit him he doesn?t like it, he fights you back but that?s because he?s angry.? Unsurprisingly the veteran trainer expects his man to get back on track in the competition. ?Carl?s a good fighter, a strong fighter,? he said. ?But he?s not in the calibre of Mikkel. I?m not talking crap, we?ll show you.? His confidence extends so far that he sees the Dane winning by knockout. ?Froch was making a big statement, saying Mikkel?s only good for five or six rounds. Maybe that?s all he [Kessler] needs to get him [Froch] out of there.?
Froch?s voyage to Denmark has been disrupted by the volcanic ash cloud spewing from Iceland, which grounded flights from Britain for days. But Montoya hardly sees the Nottingham hero being affected by the delay, saying, ?When a man?s got his mind set on something, nothing?s going to bother him, unless it?s a tragedy in his family. He doesn?t have to acclimatise or anything.? In other words, he expects the WBC super-middle champion to be fully prepared.
In his last fight, against Andre Ward in Oakland, Kessler was bamboozled by the aggression and cunning of the young American. Since then he?s changed promoters and his trainer. Montoya had worked with him for years, but only as an assistant trainer. For this fight he takes command.
?Now I call the shots. Before I couldn?t because I was just an assistant. Now he?s got a corner that works for him, that knows how to get him out of trouble,? Jimmy said. ?He wasn?t in California, that wasn?t Mikkel at all and I wasn?t with him.?
He predicts that Kessler will win the whole tournament, despite that reverse. ?I want to fight Ward again,? he declared. ?That wasn?t Mikkel who fought that fight. I?ve had 15, 16 world champions of my own. Mikkel is one of the best fighters I?ve trained. This kid?s special but nobody?s got that out him. I?m just trying to get it out of him. Mikkel can punch, he can do everything.?
Froch will enter the ring confident after his recent hard-earned victories. It remains to be seen how Kessler will bounce back from a fight in which he appeared to have no answers. But Montoya assured, ?Right now he?s mentally straight, he?s ready to fight.?
As for the suggestion that Kessler had been using a sports psychologist as part of his support staff, Montoya dismissed. ?That?s bull***,? he stormed. ?We never had no psychologist. I?m the only psychologist he needs. My role is to explain to him the wrongs and rights and the understanding of the mind.?
