By Scott Gilfoid: IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) is saying the dread R-word about him possibly retiring from boxing if he doesn’t get a fight against former WBA 160lb title holder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (48-1-1, 32 KOs) next January on the 31st.
Froch says he doesn’t want to risk his legacy fighting the slick southpaw James DeGale (19-1, 13 KOs), who is his IBF mandatory challenger.
Froch has given his promoter Eddie Hearn his marching orders to try and get a fight lined up between him and the 28-year-old Chavez Jr, but it’s still highly doubtful that Hearn will be able to set that fight up. Chavez Jr is not an easy fighter to negotiate with, especially now that he’s talking about his contract with Top Rank being up. If Chavez Jr is going to fight anyone, it would probably be Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in the United States, because that’s a far bigger fight for Chavez Jr than a fight against Froch. I mean, Froch isn’t exactly a household name in America, is he?
“That’s where I am on it,” said Froch via Skysports.com in talking about him wanting Chavez Jr. “I’ve told that to Eddie Hearn. He said ‘you can’t do that’ and you know what I can, because if that right hand I threw that connected with George Groves’ chin in front of 80,000 people at the national stadium – if that’s the last punch I throw in my career, I will still be smiling.”
How can Froch retire with just the memory of having knocked out a novice twice in George Groves? Where’s the victory in beating a novice? If that’s all it takes to put Froch in his rocker then that’s very disappointing. Shouldn’t Froch be shooting higher than Groves if he wants to have a feeling of satisfaction? I’m just saying. Why isn’t Froch shooting for the stars by targeting talents like the Dirrell brothers and Andre Ward?
Hearn obviously doesn’t want to see Froch retire because he’s still got a lot of fights left in him. If he retires now, he’d be walking away from a ton of loot he could make in fights against Gennady Golovkin, Andre Ward, the Dirrell brothers, DeGale, Chavez Jr, Mikkel Kessler and possibly even Canelo.
Froch could easily double his net worth in the next two years if he were to stay busy and fight three times a year without getting whipped. I mean, I don’t know that Froch could actually beat a talent like Chavez Jr even if Hearn did get that fight for him. I think Chavez Jr is all wrong for Froch because he’s got a steel chin and he can punch to the body like no one else in the super middleweight division except for perhaps Gilberto Ramirez.
“I don’t need to risk putting my legacy at stake for another British pretender who’s not earned his stripes,” Froch said. “If the Chavez fight can happen in Vegas for me, that is the one. If the Chavez fight doesn’t happen, there’s a strong chance of me retiring a happy man.”
With all the cash that Froch can make in the next couple of years, he’s going to blow it if he walks away from the game without taking all the fights he can while he still can. They’d have to drag me away from the ring if I could make the kind of green stuff that Froch is getting. Froch should try and get all he can while he can. If not for him, then for his family. That’s the way I see it.
I smell fear coming from Froch. He’s acting like he’s afraid to lose. Once a fighter gets that like that it’s curtains. Froch is worried about his legacy instead of trying to get as much cash as he can. That should his focus, not his legacy. That’s what I see it at least.
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