Carl Froch: “Pacquiao’s in the twilight years and if he loses to Bradley again then maybe the writing is on the wall”

In the third and final part of my “On The Ropes” interview with IBF super middleweight champion, Carl Froch, I discuss with him the other big rematch set to happen this year, Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley. Besides giving his view of Pacquiao’s future, Carl talks about his own rematch, and breaks down how he thinks the second fight with George Groves will go. Additionally Froch gives his thoughts on what he thinks this fight will do for his legacy, and what he believes could be next if he comes away with a victory. Here is what Carl Froch had to say.

Jenna J: Carl, your fight with Groves is not the only big rematch this year, Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley will meet again in April, and some people are saying that if Pacquiao loses this rematch, he should retire. What do you think about it?

Carl Froch: Yeah, it’s a fair comment, he’s late on in his career. What is he, thirty seven years old, thirty eight? He’s in the twilight years and if he loses now in the rematch to somebody that he’s already lost against then maybe the writing is on the wall, he’ll decide that, see how the rematch goes first, see how the fight goes. But yeah, it’s a fair comment to make.

Jenna J: How do you think it’s gonna go? Do you have any thoughts on that rematch?

Carl Froch: What happened? Did Bradley outwork him and beat him on points?

Jenna J: Well, he did better in the second half of the fight but most people said it was a pretty bad decision, that Pacquiao should have gotten the call.

Carl Froch: So it was a close fight that could have gone either way? Oh yeah, I remember hearing about the controversy about the bad decision and I can remember watching the highlights, but highlights are highlights aren’t they, they’re not always realistic, and then I thought to myself, well maybe it wasn’t the great train robbery was it? Let’s be honest. It was one of them that could have gone either way so you never know. He might pull it off again, Bradley, but he may just come unstuck, who knows.

I don’t really have a major opinion on it, but the question you asked was, would Manny Pacquiao consider retirement if he gets beat? He probably would do, he probably would consider retirement because he’s had a couple of losses now late on in his career and where would he go if he lost to Bradley again? He will probably want to beat Bradley and then get that fight that’s never happened against Mayweather, and I couldn’t see that happening if he lost to Bradley.

Jenna J: Carl you had that rematch with Mikkel Kessler, you looked far superior in the rematch than you did in the first fight. How exactly do you expect the rematch between you and George Groves to play out?

Carl Froch: I expect me to win in style, use my jab a bit more and just do a professional job on him. I can’t see George Groves, I just don’t see how he can beat me. If he was going to beat me he would of beat me in our first fight because he hit me with everything he had. I was so poor on the night but I still managed to drag the win out of the fire, I still managed to get the win as bad as I was because lets be honest, I was terrible.

If you have a terrible night like that, usually you get beat. So the way I look at it, there’s no way George Groves can beat me, he just cannot beat me. How do I see the fight going? I see me stopping him in the mid to late rounds. It will come on top for him, I’ll be too strong for him, too fit for him, and when I start landing hurtful shots he’s gonna unfold.

George Groves is a giver not a taker, he likes letting shots go and he likes to be on top, he’s an on top fighter. As soon as it comes unstuck for him, as soon as he’s put on his back foot and he’s taking punishment, he falls apart. I barely hit him with many shots, a few body shots and a few head shots late on and he was gone, his legs were gone. He was holding on, he was all over the place.

He’s not a very tough boy, George Groves. He’s fast, he can punch a little bit, he means business, he’s quite aggressive and offensive, but when it comes on top for him and when he’s under serious threat, he falls apart and gets beat. He’s weak when it comes on top for him, so I expect it to come on top for him mid to late rounds and I expect to stop him in the rematch and I’m looking forward to it, I really am.

Jenna J: Do you believe this rematch could end up being one of the defining fights for your career?

Carl Froch: I don’t know because George Groves has not fought anybody ranked in the top fifteen in the world until he fought me, and he got beat by me, so you can’t take massive credit for beating somebody like that. I’ve beaten far superior fighters with much better experience and proven at world class, I’m not gonna go into the names, just look at the resume, my career speaks for itself.

I don’t particularly think it will be my defining fight, but I do think it will be a fight that’s massive in Britain and people will look on and say, “Fair play to Carl Froch, he took the rematch and he’s done the business in the rematch, what a great fight that was,”

For me personally it’s no great feat beating George Groves, I’ve gotta be honest. Obviously he’s a decent enough fighter, but he’s no Jermain Taylor or Pascal or an unbeaten Bute or Mikkel Kessler you know, he’s none of them, it is what it is.

Jenna J: To all your fans out there, the people that follow ‘The Cobra’ any message you want to pass on to them?

Carl Froch: Yeah, once I deal with this kid from London, George Groves, he calls himself ‘The Saint’ once I’ve finished with him, and mark my words I will finish him off in style, I’ll give him a right pasting, mid to late stoppage, you can put your money safe on that one. Then hopefully I’ll be coming over to America to entertain you all.

Chavez Jr, I think he’s fighting on the first of March, I may be going out there to watch it if I can fit it into my training schedule, that’s a big fight I want. I still want a big fight in America, probably Las Vegas, against somebody like Chavez. So look forward to that one.