Carl Froch: “I think at 172lbs I would comeback and fight Gennady Golovkin, it’s a weight I could make”

Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch is a former unified super middleweight and is regarded by many to be one of the very best in the history of the division. During a career that spanned twelve years, Froch became a champion at the weight class three times and finished his career with a 33-2 (24KOs) record. The last time Carl Froch stepped into the ring was in May of 2014, in a bout where he scored a spectacular eigth round TKO against rival George Groves, in front of 80,000 people. While Froch has entertained the possibility of returning to the ring, he has yet to find the fight or the motivation to officially come back.

In Part 2 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Carl Froch, I discuss with him his feeling on a possible comeback and if watching James DeGale’s recent win has added any motivation to a comeback. Carl also gives his thoughts of a potential fight with IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and what needs to happen for that fight to come together. In closing, Carl talks about his legacy and how he thinks he will be remembered by the fans. Here is what Carl Froch had to say.

Jenna J: Carl, did watching DeGale vs. Bute at all motivate you to want to comeback and recapture your belt?

Carl Froch: No, it demotivates me. There’s nothing exciting about me fighting James DeGale, I don’t think it’s a big fight. I don’t think it sells very well, I don’t think it does big PPV numbers, it does exactly the opposite. In my head I know I can beat him, but why would I go through a three month training camp to be involved in a fight that for me isn’t going to be commercially feasible?

It’s not gonna be a big fight, so it does the opposite. If he had gone in there and absolutely dominated and stopped Bute in a fantastic match, I could have said, “There’s a challenge and there’s a big fight,” but it’s not, it’s not a big fight. It doesn’t make me want to get back in the ring, I just want to stay in my own gym and put my feet up.

Jenna J: There’s been talks in the past about you facing Gennady Golovkin. Has there been any recent talks that maybe can show some promise of seeing you get back in there?

Carl Froch: No because I spoke to Tom Loeffler who is his manager and I said, “Look, lets do it at a catch weight because I’m walking at around nearly fourteen stone and I’m still under ten percent body fat, so I’m gonna struggle to make super middleweight. I won’t put my body through it.”

I think if myself and Golovkin agreed to fight, it wouldn’t need to be at super middleweight for a world title, it would just need to be at a catch weight where I’m comfortable enough to box at. I said, “Come up to 170 or 172,” and Tom Loeffler was like, “No, that won’t happen. I don’t even think it would happen at 168lbs because he’s talking about fighting Canelo now.” So the Gennady Golovkin unfortunately for the fans is also a nonstarter.

After speaking to Tom Loeffler, it showed very little interest in him coming up to fight me. There’s another nail in the “I’m retired” coffin if you like, another reason for me to say I’m definitely done. There’s no big fight there for me. Andre Ward is now up at light heavyweight but to me he’s not doing much, I don’t even know why. I think he’s a waste of talent because he’s just not fighting.

Jenna J: In terms of Golovkin, how serious were you considering it? If he would fight you at 172lbs would you in fact come back?

Carl Froch: I think I would because I think at 172 it’s a weight I could make, but then we have to agree terms. He’s talking about fighting Canelo and it hit a brick wall when I talked about that fight at that weight, straight away it was a nonstarter. Christmas is coming now, I need to be in the gym, I need to get my head around maybe fighting again or maybe not.

It’s coming to the point now where I’m quite happily retired, very happily retired. I retired boxing, boxing didn’t retire me. I retired at the top, I’m financially secure, I got my health which is more important than anything. And now I got a very young family at home, so I don’t need it, so why would I put myself in a position of risk when the reward is very little? It’s not a game on the football pitch, in boxing you end up in a stretcher and you make your way to the hospital, so it’s dangerous.

In terms of risk and reward and coming back at my age after being out of the ring for over eighteen months, it needs to be a big fight. The Golovkin fight looks like it’s a nonstarter, DeGale doesn’t motivate me and there’s nobody else really doing anything worth it. There’s nothing there at all, I’d rather go sit down and play a game of poker and chill out with a pint of Guinness and have a laugh with my friends.

Jenna J: You’ve had an amazing boxing career, when it’s all said and done, how do you rate your accomplishments?

Carl Froch: I think I achieved massively in boxing. I’m four times world champion, I had two losses and I avenged one of those losses to Kessler. I never got a chance to avenge the loss against Andre Ward, although I did invite him to Nottingham to which he refused to come, he turned down that challenge.

I don’t hold any grudges and I don’t feel it’s a bad loss against Ward, 115-113 on two of the judges, although on my own admission it was probably wider than that. It wasn’t a fight where I got well beat and lost massively, and it’s against somebody who’s probably going to go through his career unbeaten. I have achieved above and beyond what I wanted to achieve in boxing ad I’ve retired at the top of my game.

I retired boxing, boxing hasn’t retired me, and I retired as a champion. Now I’m living the rest of my life as a champion and I’m having a fantastic time in retirement. The sport has served me well, it was an over a decade chapter in my life where I’ve gone from rags to riches. I’ve gone out on top with my health so I’ll look back at this decade of my life where I achieved greatness and stardom with great pride.

I’ve had a lot of avid followers during my fights and now after my boxing career living on as a TV broadcaster. It sounds like a full retirement statement doesn’t it? That’s because it probably is, you probably will never see me in the ring again. When I go to bed at night, my head hits the pillow with a big smile on my face as I look back on what’s been a fantastic career.