By Radio Rahim
K2 Promotions' Tom Loeffler, who promotes WBA/WBC/IBF/IBO middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs), had a smile on his face when discussing some of the recent verbal taunts from retired former super middleweight champion Carl Froch.
Froch, who retired last year, has been pretty vocal in recent weeks with his criticism of Golovkin.
Golovkin is scheduled for action on September 10th, when he defends his titles against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook at the O2 Arena in London.
Besides the verbal taunts, Froch even revealed his personal pound-for-pound list, where he ranked off the 10 best fighters in the world. He listed Golovkin in the number eight position. That decision drew a lot of questions, since many of the more credible pound-for-pound lists have Golovkin ranked within the top five.
"For all the talk of fighting from 154-168-pounds, Triple G just hasn't fought anyone to justify his lofty place for me. I've literally never heard of some of his recent victims - it's a shame there isn't a prime Kelly Pavlik or Jermaine Taylor at 160-pounds nowadays. Even the early 160-pound Arthur Abraham or the pre-Pavlik Edison Miranda would have took it to him and then we could gauge him," Froch told Sky Sports.
"He's looked great in all his outings, but it's opponents we need to see and not just hear gym stories. I don't think he'll run through Kell Brook like many others are saying at all. I also think Billy Joe Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr would give him a fight."
Loeffler saw the pound-for-pound list and read Froch's statements.
There were negotiations last year for a Golovkin vs. Froch bout at 168 in the UK. Loeffler says they agreed to everything, when Froch decided to retire.
"His pound for pound list.... that was a little bit curious. Look, everyone has an opinion. I think Carl got a little bit defensive when the talk was that we were trying to make the fight. Gennady was willing to go to the UK. I heard that Carl was wanting to fight in Vegas. I told [Froch's promoter] Eddie [Hearn] that it doesn't really matter, because it's the same thing... wherever he wants we can make the fight. But he chose to retire," Loeffler told BoxingScene.com.
"What I keep saying, you can't force guys to get in the ring. All we can do is make offers and show willingness to make the fights. And Gennady now is one of the most marketable fighters in boxing."
