Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
WBN Editor
Former world champion makes bet admission
Super-Six super-middleweight finalist Carl Froch has openly admitted
to ‘prolonging’ some of his fights so that his friends and family could make
money from round betting.
The 34 year-old told how he could have knocked out and
opponent in the fourth round of a bout, but allowed him to carry on so people
he knew could make money. The Nottingham fighter may now face repercussions for
his statement made to the BBC and the British Board of Boxing Control are sure
to get involved in the matter.
"I've done it more than one occasion and it was round
five but that's not illegal,” Froch explained to BBC Sport.
"I can say, 'right, I'll stop this kid in round five'.
If I'm good enough to do that then fair enough. I don't gamble but my brothers
and my friends, they did quite well off it.
"I can openly say that because if I'm good enough to
step on the gas in round five and force the stoppage then that's my privilege,
and that's what I did in this particular fight at the Arena for the Commonwealth
title defence. But the problem with that is I held him up in round four.
"He was there for the taking and I held him up, I got
him with a shot, I could have ended up getting done myself in round four,” he
added.
David Haye admitted in his post-fight interview against
Audley Harrison that his friends and family had a bet on a third round win,
which he duly delivered after labouring through the first two rounds - only to
retract the statement afterwards.
The admission from Froch comes just a day after Haye and
Dereck Chisora were sought by German police for an open brawl at the
after-fight conference following Chisora’s loss to WBC champion Vitali
Klitschko.