English professional boxer Carl Froch's "desire to stage his next world title fight" at one of his home city's main football venues seems to be moving "closer to reality," according to Neil Heath of the BBC. Championship club Nottingham Forest said it is "open-minded" about staging the Int'l Boxing Federation super-middleweight champion's next bout. Froch's promoter Eddie Hearn said it would be "very special" if a fight could take place at the City Ground or League One side Notts County's Meadow Lane home. County "tried to stage Froch's world title bout against Lucian Bute in May." However, because the ground "did not hold a boxing licence," Hearn decided that "he could not wait for permission to be granted." The Nottingham Arena was chosen instead. Notts County now has "permission to hold boxing matches at its stadium." A Nottingham Forest spokesperson said: "Carl has never made any secret of his desire to fight at The City Ground and, as a club, we are open-minded about the possibility of it happening one day" (BBC, 11/20).
