By Edward Chaykovsky

British legend Naseem Hamed was ringside last November when George Groves came very close to upsetting super middleweight champion Carl Froch. Hamed believes there were physical signs that Froch is now a shot fighter, and he advised the Nottingham fighter to retire from the sport. Hamed is backing Groves to win a potential rematch with Froch, and he expects Groves to win in impressive fashion. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn is trying hard to finalize a Froch-Groves rematch.

"After that fight, Carl Froch is a shot fighter and that means, in my game, you are finished," said Hamed to Talk Sports' Hawksbee and Jacobs show. "What I found amazing about George was, before that night, I never rated him. I was amazed to see everything he said he was going to do in the first round, he did."

“I rate Carl for coming through the whole of that and finding a way to win. That’s what champions do. But if there is a rematch, I honestly do believe that George will win it, convincingly. [Froch] has had an amazing career, he has won some amazing fights, he has done what some people can only dream of in the sport of boxing. Instead of going on for that extra fight or whatever, why not do the smart thing and say ‘you know what, like Sugar Ray Leonard said, I have had my day in the sun’. Whether the whole nation would love to see the fight or not, I only wish he retires."