By Edward Chaykovsky
Former super middleweight Carl Froch made a lot of headlines in the last few days when he discussed the possibility of returning for a single fight in 2016 - possibly against IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale.
Froch has been inactive since May 2014, when he knocked out George Groves in their rematch before a crowd of 80,000 fans at Wembley.
For the moment, the Nottingham fighter is staying retired and has no immediate plans to return to the ring. He is more than happy to remain a ringside observer as part of the Sky Sports broadcast team.
"Well the first thing I want to confirm is I am happily retired.....for now! There have been many boxing comebacks over the years, and sadly many of them do not have a happy ending," Froch told Sky Sports.
"In a nutshell, there is no reason forcing me back into the ring. There are no itches left to scratch and nothing left to prove. My final fight was called 'Unfinished Business' - and I finished it."
"Some retired fighters miss the sport and the limelight, but I'm lucky to still be involved in big televised fights - but from the safe side of the ropes."
Regarding his comments on busting up DeGale, Froch says he is just being honest. He's confident of breaking down and putting away DeGale - if the two of them were to fight.
If DeGale blows out Lucian Bute on November 28th in Canada, Froch admits that he could get the urge to fight him next year - but Froch also reveals that his wife will likely talk him down from making a comeback.
"Lately I have been asked the same questions again and again - and then news websites have run with my candid replies. Would I bash up James DeGale? Yes, of course I would. Why didn't that fight happen last year? DeGale simply hadn't done anything to command my respect at that point and I'd just smoked a guy who'd previously beaten him," Froch said.
Props to James because he's now had a good win over Andre Dirrell and is set to go to Canada to fight another one of my old victims, Lucian Bute. If DeGale does a job on Bute then he will have my respect for going into a backyard like a proper champion should do."
If he does the business it could actually whet my appetite and I could think to myself, 'You know what? Let's have another punch-up!', but immediately my other half, Rachael, will give me a thump and tell me to carry on rubbing her feet. Fighting is in my blood and always will be, as you can imagine, and it's only natural to have those thoughts and urges."
