By Edward Chaykovsky
Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch, who retired last year, has called for an age limit on boxing after watching last December's brutal knockout of Roy Jones Jr.
Jones, 46-years-old and a former four division world champion, was knocked out cold by ex-cruiserweight champ Enzo Maccarinelli. At one time Jones considered to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
If he was offered the fight with Jones, regardless of the financial amount, Froch would have turned the fight down.
"That was terrible to see that, upsetting. I watched that fight with David Haye and Johnny Nelson, because Big Josh (Anthony Joshua) was fighting that night and Roy Jones boxed Enzo Maccarinelli and got knocked out... terrible," Froch told Daily Mail.
"Roy Jones getting knocked out as badly as he did against someone like Enzo Maccarinelli and not taking anything away from Maccarinelli, but Roy Jones Jr. is one of the best fighters that ever lived and Maccarinelli is a limited, domestic-level fighter and he is knocking out Roy Jones. If I was Maccarinelli, I would not have taken the fight. I would have not fought Roy Jones, I would have refused to fight him. He has gone there and knocked him out and I would take no credit from doing that, but each to their own."
Froch says there should be guidelines in place where fighters are restricted from returning to the ring beyond a certain age. At the moment there are no restrictions in place. If a fighter is able to pass the necessary medical examinations, he is allowed to compete.
"Boxing is a hurt game if you can't be at your best, can't be 100 percent mentally and physically switched on to performing, to win titles, defend titles, defend yourself in the correct fashion, then I don't think you should fight," Froch said.
"I was just going past my best after I knocked Groves out. A year passed and I was in the gym thinking about fighting [Julio Cesar] Chavez Jnr, thinking about one last hurrah, maybe Vegas, maybe the City Ground [in his home town of Nottingham] and I got back in the gym after two or three weeks and it just wasn't me.
"Boxing is not like any other sport, you have to weigh up the risk and reward. Things like playing football, tennis, you might be three sets to love down, but boxing you're going to the hospital on a stretcher and you know potentially you are going to get an injury you can't walk away from. I don't know whether they can bring different rules in on the licensing to stop people from coming back into the sport that have been retired a long time or past a certain age. There is an age limit of 35 on amateur boxing. They should consider putting an age limit on professional boxing. I boxed till my late 30s, so 47, that's impossible really to be at your best and if you aren't at your best you shouldn't be boxing."
