New York - Arabstoday
CARL FROCH insists he was the top fighter in the country even before Amir Khan had his world titles ripped away by Lamont Peterson. The WBC world supermiddleweight champion defends his title against unbeaten WBA king Andre Ward in Atlantic City on Saturday. It is also the final of the Super Six tournament — a series of box-offs held over the last two years to find the best super-middleweight in the world. Froch and WBO light-heavyweight king Nathan Cleverly are now the only British globally-recognised title holders. So it is little wonder when Froch boasts: "I am the top fighter in Britain at the minute. If people want to give me credit for what I have achieved, great. If they don't, I am not bothered — I have gone past that stage. "I have the hardest fight of my career on Saturday, it's a world title unification bout against an unbeaten fighter for my WBC and his WBA title. No one can ask for more than that." Froch, whose only loss came on points against Denmark's Mikkel Kessler in 2010, said: "I have won all my fights as far as I am concerned — I beat Kessler! "There's been a lot of good fights involving Brits. "Khan's was a week before mine but mine is better because it is a serious fight between two top fighters. "I have been at the top of my game for a couple of years, Ward is unbeaten, he is a world champion, an ambitious fighter. "Our fight has the potential to go either way. "Maybe Amir's not quite there yet. Whether he was unlucky or not to lose, he needs to stay at 140lb, get his titles back and adjust. Then he can think about where to go." Froch, 34, was not surprised Peterson battled to a controversial points decision against Khan and he has long complained about fighters getting home-town decisions. His defeat against Kessler in Herning still rankles. But he intends to take the decision out of the judges' hands on Saturday, insisting: "It's got to be a dominating display. I'll go in there and hit him with everything. "If that fails, I'll kick him where it hurts."