By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KO’s) is talking retirement if he loses to Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KO’s) in his next Super Six tournament fight in September. According to news from The Sun, the former World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Froch is saying “The next fight [Abraham] is all or nothing for me. If it doesn’t go my way, I will seriously consider retirement because I’m only interested in big title fights. I won’t hang around at domestic level.” That sounds pretty dramatic coming from Froch. I never thought I’d see Froch thinking about retirement after only one loss. That’s seems kind of hasty if you ask me.

What happened to the warrior mentality that he used to have? Before, Froch had no problems with fighting an opponent in their home turf. He used to talk it up how he had no problems with fighting in another opponent’s home country. But all that has changed since Froch’s loss to Mikkel Kessler last month on April 24th. Froch thinks he should have won that fight, and thinks things could have gone his way had it taken place in Nottingham, England, his home. Now Froch is saying he doesn’t want to fight Abraham in Germany and says he’ll pull out of the Super Six tournament if he’s forced to fight there. I miss the old Froch. The new one seems bitter.

Why can’t he just take the defeat like a warrior, keep a stiff upper lip and soldier on like Abraham did after getting dominated by the talented Andre Dirrell. You got to take the pain. I know losing really sucks, but that’s the way does sometimes. But you don’t threaten to pull out of the tournament if the organizers schedule you to fight in a certain place. I’m really disappointed. And what’s up with this talk of retirement if Froch loses? Seriously, Froch will only have two losses if he gets cremated by Abraham. Why would that make him think about retirement?

Froch can always resurrect his career in the light heavyweight or middleweight divisions. All it would take for him is a little sacrifice in putting on or taking weight off and he’s there. It’s a bad sign when a fighter starts talking retirement, even before they’ve fought the fight. That means the there’s self doubt already creeping in Froch’s head about the fight. Before his loss to Kessler, Froch never even entertained the thought of losing. He spoke in absolutes. He predicted how he was going to beat Kessler and seemed to never even consider getting beaten.

But now with Froch threatening to pull out of the Super Six tournament if he’s forced to fight in Germany and talking about retirement if he loses, I just don’t know. The lad needs a little confidence boost, I think. I don’t buy it. I think Froch is bluffing. If he gets royally spanked by Abraham, which is what I see happening, I think Froch will continue to fight, albeit grumpily. I just hope for his sake it’s a knockout loss, so he won’t be upset thinking he lost another home decision like in the Kessler fight.