Sports
Carl Froch called out to his face by fellow Hall of Famer: “I’ll stand and fight”
Carl Froch has been called out by a former opponent for an exhibition match, despite being nearly 12 years into his retirement.
The Nottingham man’s last outing saw him beat George Groves for a second time, engineering an eighth-round finish in front of a sizable crowd at Wembley Stadium, London.
Prior to that, Froch had claimed another stoppage victory over his rival, this time under controversial circumstances after referee Howard Foster intervened in round nine.
Nevertheless, the Hall of Famer ended his career as the IBF world super-middleweight champion, having only lost to pound-for-pound legend Andre Ward and top dog Mikkel Kessler.
But while ‘The Cobra’ seems happily retired, he might yet be tempted by an opportunity to get the better of his former foe, albeit in an exhibition.
Having already exacted his revenge over Kessler, Froch could be eager to do the same against Ward, despite the largely one-sided nature of their encounter in 2011.
Back then, Ward produced a measured performance to win their Super Six World Boxing Classic final and become a unified world champion at 168lbs.
But now, the American has expressed an interest in facing Froch under exhibition rules, with the two of them being 41 and 48 years old, respectively.
Speaking together on Froch On Fighting, Ward seriously proposed the possibility of them facing one another in an exhibition-style contest, but with 10oz gloves.
“I thought about it because we have history, we’ve only fought once [and] there was talk about a second fight.
“But we’re at the age now where these types of exhibitions are going to be better because, man, I’m too old to be moving around and stuff like that.
“I’m [seven] years younger – I’m trying to get as many advantages as possible. I’ve sparred a couple times [since retiring] but not a lot.
“I spar with [Terence] Crawford, I spar with Shakur [Stevenson] – I do a little mini camp. I’d never sign an agreement to not go hard [in the exhibition].
“I may not even spar; I’m just going to get into tip-top shape. I’ll stand and fight you [Froch].”
Though Froch appeared to consider it, he did admit that he may not have the appetite for stepping through the ropes with someone of Ward’s caliber.
Ward’s last professional outing took place in 2017, back when he secured an eighth-round stoppage victory over fearsome light-heavyweight puncher Sergey Kovalev, retiring undefeated.