Hearn thinks Froch will only comeback for Golovkin fight

By Boxing News - 11/13/2015 - Comments

1-golovkin (5)By Scott Gilfoid: While Carl Froch recently said that he might be interested in making a comeback to fight IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale if he beats Lucian Bute this month in their fight on November 28th, Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes that the only fighter that will get Froch to come out of retirement is IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.

With the huge money that Froch made in his last fight against George Groves in 2014, which was said to be £8m [$12 million USD], Hearn thinks the only fight that would get Froch to comeback would be Golovkin. Hearn has a pretty good idea how the British boxing public would take to a Froch-DeGale fight, and he must be thinking that it wouldn’t be nearly as big a deal as Froch seems to think it would be.

This past week, Froch said that he might be interested in facing DeGale next spring at Wembley. However, if the British boxing public aren’t interested in seeing that fight in large numbers, then Froch could find himself fighting DeGale in front of a half empty Wembley Stadium in London, or even potentially worse than that with the fight bringing in only 20,000 fans. It’s unclear how expensive it would be to rent out Wembley Stadium, but it would be a major buzz-kill if Hearn made the fight for Froch and then few fans showed up.

“Everyone asks if a 2016 comeback is on and I know the competitor in him would like a fight with James DeGale. But I cannot see that happening,” Hearn said to the dailymail.co.uk. ‘”Knowing how much he [Froch] was paid to fight George Groves in his last fight a year and a half ago, I know it would have to be seriously worth his while. I believe the only fight that would get him back would be Gennady Golovkin.”

So there it is. If Froch wants to make the big cash that he made in his last fight against Groves, then he needs to man up and fight Golovkin rather than look for the easy way by taking on DeGale, who the fans wouldn’t be nearly as interested in seeing.

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It would ultimately be for Froch to decide. Hearn would merely let Froch know what kind of money he could expect for a fight against DeGale compared to a fight against Golovkin. If Froch felt that he didn’t need the bigger payday against Golovkin, along with the greater risk of him being planted face first on the canvas in front of his adoring British fans, then Hearn could go ahead and match Froch against DeGale and stage it at the much smaller Wembley Arena with its seating capacity of 20,000 fans rather than Wembley Stadium, with a capacity of 90,000 fans.

Yeah, it would be a way for Froch to avoid getting knocked out if he were to face DeGale, but he would have to be realistic about the kind of money he would make for that lesser risk. Obviously, a fight against Golovkin would be a much bigger money fight for Froch than a fight against a slapper like DeGale, who was already beaten by Groves in the past. I don’t know how Froch could even get motivated for a fight against DeGale after knowing that he was beaten by Groves, a fighter that he knocked out twice.

“It is the fight the world would want to see. Froch is in great shape at the moment,” Hearn said about a Froch vs. Golovkin fight. “He has added muscle mass to his frame, which would make getting to 168lbs harder. If he is to come back it has to be in 2016 – he can’t leave it any later. I can’t say it will happen but at the same time I wouldn’t rule it out.”

I don’t know if Froch will come back. He seems to go back and forth with some of the things he says. It doesn’t sound good that Froch is saying he takes advice from his girlfriend, who he says wants him to continue rubbing her feet.

“My other half will give me a thump and tells me to carry on rubbing her feet,” Froch said.

If you have the chance of making $12 million for a fight, I think you could stop rubbing your girlfriend’s feet long enough to take the fight, can’t you? I don’t understand not taking a fight that would make that kind of money. I don’t care if my girlfriend wants me to rub her feet 24/7, I would stop rubbing her feet, get up off the couch in training camp. But then again, I would never rub my girlfriend’s feet in the first place. No way on earth would I do that, and I wouldn’t take career advice from my girlfriend. The last thing I would want is to have someone telling me what to do my career.

I think what it comes down to is whether or not Froch thinks he’s capable of beating Golovkin. If he feels it’s a task that he’ll likely fail in, then I could understand why Froch would duck the fight and shoot for the easier more attainable goal of beating DeGale. If Froch already has his mind made up that he’d get whipped by Golovkin and planted face first on the canvas in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, then I could see how it would be easy for Froch to stay no to such a fight. Forget about the old ‘I’m a warrior’ gum flapping, we’re talking about a fighter who is being realistic with his talents.

If this was war situation and it was a case of whether to rush the hill to storm the enemy emplacement 1000 meters away or run the opposite way to the safety of the base camp, it might be better if Froch chooses the latter move because he can avoid a potential destruction. But by taking the non-risk, the money is much less. If Froch doesn’t fight at all, then he doesn’t make a penny.

If Froch takes the lesser risk against DeGale, he’ll make good money, but probably nowhere near the huge cash he’d make against Golovkin. If Froch is hung up mentally in being concerned about his legacy and going out on a positive note, then DeGale or Groves would be the right way for him to end his career on.

The only way for Froch to really be remembered as a real warrior, in my view, would be for him to man up and take the fight against Golovkin. Froch needs to forget about the negative consequences of what could happen in that fight and take it anyway so that he can make the bigger money and go out on his shield.



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