Carl Froch And Yusaf Mack Press Conference At Nottingham's Capital FM Arena

Photo © Nottingham Confidential

In a conference suite on the fourth floor of Nottingham's Capital FM Arena, a confident Carl Froch and a quiet but buff-looking Yusaf Mack spoke to the gathered national and local media ahead of Froch's second fight at the Arena this year, but what could also potentially be his last fight in Nottingham on November 17.

"It's not even five months since that epic night here in this very arena against Lucien Bute," began promoter Eddie Hearn, "an unbelievable night, an epic night for British boxing. So we're delighted to bring Carl Froch back to the UK and delighted to welcome the challenger today who's flown over from America, Yusaf Mack."

"I'm happy to get the opportunity, just wanna tell him, you know, come fight time, fight night, that you're going down," said Yusaf Mack, briefly.

"It's fantastic to be back at home," said Carl Froch. "After the Lucien Bute fight and winning the IBF title, I feel like I've rekindled the old flame, it never really burnt out but I feel like I'm back on top of the world, I'm back on great form, great shape, I'm 35 years old but I'm running faster and feeling fitter and feeling stronger...I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life.

"There's only going to be one winner and I'm there to do the business and on the 17th of November, I'll do whatever I need to do to put Yusuf Mack on his back, simple as that. You're talking about me going down, I don't go down, everybody knows that, it's trash talk, I don't want to get involved in that," said Carl Froch  before adding, "but there's only one winner, three times World Champion, eight world title fights on the spin, I'm feeling fit, strong as I ever felt so I'm just looking forward to putting on a great fight for my fans."

Photo © Nottingham Confidential

"The local support is fantastic," Carl Froch told Nottingham Confidential. "We sell out the arena every time I fight and it's a great feeling. I've got a great, great following, even when I fight abroad. But wherever I fight, it's a boxing ring, put it wherever you want, I'm in there, against an opponent with a referee.

"Training is the same for this fight, sparring is always different, sparring partners to try and emulate the opponent but physically, runs, bags, pad work, circuit work, strength and conditioning, I know what I need to do, get myself in peak physical shape and fitness. I've started cycling a little bit, which is a bit different, takes a bit of pressure of the knees and I enjoy it."

And ahead of potentially his last fight here in his home city, does he have a message for Nottingham? "They know what they get with me, they know who I am and what I do, and the place is nearly sold out because I excite when I fight, I entertain, I'm not a boring fighter, I'm the people's champion and I'm looking forward to having another great response."

You can see lots more of the press conference photos on our Facebook page here and watch our Nottingham Confidential footage of the whole conference in the link below.

Carl Froch versus Yusuf Mack takes place at Capital FM Arena on November 17. Full details and ticket prices are available on the Capital FM Arena website here