s: Carl Froch reveals why Gennady Golovkin fight talks failed, insists he would’ve won by knockout

RomanReigns25y ago

Carl Froch’s last fight came when he famously knocked out George Groves in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in 2014. However, at the time there were a couple of other potential opponents who nearly lured him back for one last hurrah. A potential Julio Cesar Chavez Jr bout in Las Vegas fell through for 2015 and then talk turned to a possible clash with middleweight beast Gennady Golovkin. When asked how he’d have fared in the fantasy match-up, Froch said on his Froch on Fighting Podcast: “This is only gonna take five seconds – too big and too strong. “Back him up, back him up, mess him up. “When you’re too big for somebody and too strong for somebody, I don’t care that he can punch hard because I can take a punch. “He’s not gonna be hitting me with 100 big stinking right hands clean on the chin because I’m gonna move out the way of most of them or block most of them. When I lost to Mikkel Kessler, I then fought Arthur Abraham, he was knocking everybody over. He is big and strong, quite a stocky guy, he can punch hard, knocked most people out. “He was a ‘monster puncher’, but I think I got hit once or twice the whole fight. Totally outboxed him and outclassed him and outmanoeuvred him. “And the tactics would be the same for Golovkin because I’ve got height and reach on him and I can box. “People think I’m just a warmonger and I like to stand there and take shots to land shots, but I won two ABA titles, I won a medal in the World Championships, so I have got boxing ability. {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/11\/NINTCHDBPICT000540199927.jpg?strip=all&w=960&quality=100"} GETTY - CONTRIBUTOR 7Froch comprehensively beat Abraham in 2010 “If I use my boxing ability with my tenactiy and my nasty mindset, I could keep myself out of harm’s way with my reach and put shots together when I have to. “I’ve met Golovkin, he’s about four or five inches shorter than me. I shook his hand and it felt like I was shaking the hand of a wet lettuce. “I just feel like he’s too small, not tough enough- Alright he can punch hard, but Martin Murray took him eleven rounds. “No disrespect to Martin Murray, but he’s a domestic level fighter. {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/05\/Golovkin.jpg?strip=all&w=960&quality=100"} GETTY 7GGG has shared two great fights with Canelo “Them fighters don’t last three/four rounds with me, they get beat up. “So a fight with Golovkin – and I’m not just being big-headed or overselling myself – I always thought, and Rob McCracken always said, ‘You’re too much for Golovkin.’ “He’s not a super-middleweight, he’s not big enough.” {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/11\/NINTCHDBPICT000540199928.jpg?strip=all&w=608&quality=100"} GETTY IMAGES - GETTY 7Froch was renowned for being incredibly resilient in the ring Froch then went on to explain why the fight didn’t happen: “We were in talks with his manager. They were trying to get me down to 166lbs. “That don’t sound like much weight, 2lbs below the 12 stone limit. I was a machine at 12 stone… “I could not have lost another 2lbs and performed. They were just trying to drag me down that bit further. “I just said, ‘Look, let’s make the fight and make it at 12 stone. You think you’re too much for me, you’ll back me up and knock me out, let’s do it at 12 stone.’ LATEST BOXING NEWS {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/06\/unnamed.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}THE PACIFIER Whyte says 'pathetic' Ngannou pleaded with Dana White to pull press conference {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/12\/AnthonyJoshuaTysonFury.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}RICHES Gigantic Saudi site fee for Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury reportedly revealed {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/TommyFury.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}ONLINE RIVALRY Tommy Fury blasts back at Jake Paul, says 'my mother would chin Ben Askren' {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/JakePaulDanaWhite.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}CIRCUS Dana White blasts Jake Paul after Cormier clash and says PPV claim is 'full of s***' {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/CaneloAnthonyJoshuathumb.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}UPDATED Boxing schedule 2021: Results and dates for Joshua vs Fury, Canelo and Mike Tyson {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/ConorMcGregorJakePaul.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}JACKASS Conor McGregor fires unsubtle shot at Jake Paul after YouTuber crashes UFC 261 {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/WarrenFuryJoshuaHearn.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}HURRY UP 'I'll believe it when I see it' - Warren insists AJ vs Fury offer is yet to arrive {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/03\/TommyFuryJakePaulthumb.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}TALK IS CHEAP Jake Paul confirms talks to fight Tommy Fury as Frank Warren makes offer {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/Wilder.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}'REVENGE' Deontay Wilder back in training and sends chilling message to rival Tyson Fury {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/pjimage-2-1-2.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=300&h=192&crop=1"}PRANK Watch Jake Paul take vicious body shot from Ryan Garcia - before getting his own back “Don’t forget I was out the ring, this was after I’d been retired a year, then the talks started to get a bit serious. “They were just trying to drag me down to a weight division I wouldn’t have been able to do it in. “At the time when we were talking, I was 13 stone 4lbs, a lifetime heaviest, so I’ve got to get myself down to 12 stone which would’ve been hard. “And they were trying to drag me down even further and that’s why the fight didn’t happen.” {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/09\/SaundersCaneloGGG.jpg?strip=all&w=960&quality=100"} 7Golovkin is famous for his power Making a final prediction, Froch said: “In my opinion I’d beat him up because I’m too big and too strong for him. I might be wrong, we’ll never know, but I would back myself to be beat him. “There will be a lot of people listening to this saying, ‘No, no, no, load of b*****ks, Golovkin would beat you. Eventually Golovkin’s power would tell, he’d land on you, he’d hurt you, break you down and stop you.’ “What I’d say to that is I’ve never been stopped, I’ve only ever been put down twice in my career and I got up to win both times. “You can say either of us are a clear winner. I think I beat him by stoppage. I’d be hitting him that much, that hard. {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/talksport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/02\/GettyImages-495039669.jpg?strip=all&w=960&quality=100"} GETTY IMAGES 7Froch knocked out Groves in their rematch “A little bit like the Lucian Bute fight, back him up to the ropes, back him up, smash him to bits, you know how I roll. “What a great fight that would’ve been, and I’m man enough to admit I could’ve come unstuck. “I could’ve got my nose broke, I could’ve got my eye cut and been blinded in one eye, I could’ve even got ironed out. “I never think I’d be knocked out because I’ve been hit with some big, big shots in my career and I’ve felt them, but they never bothered me that much. “I’ve never been flattened like Amir Khan, have I?” https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/685369/boxing-news-carl-froch-gennady-golovkin-knockout/

Comments (20)

kafkod

Hmmmm, almost looks like he's talking out of his ass :)never sounded so brave and confident about facing/beating GGG until GGG lost his aura of invincibility. Those comments from Froch are from 2015.

5y ago

Zaryu

He was talking from the heart, not the head. And no matter what his head tells him, in his heart, he'll always be "too big, too strong" for GGG. Hmmmm, almost looks like he's talking out of his ass :)never sounded so brave and confident about facing/beating GGG until GGG lost his aura of invincibility.

5y ago

Chrismart

I'm a big Froch fan, but I think I may of leant towards Golovkin winning.

5y ago

kafkod

Sounds reasonable, but haters don't do "reasonable". LOL :) Tell me about it!

5y ago

kafkod

That's fine, I respect Froch a lot. He's a warrior and a terrific entertainer, but he talks as if he wanted to fight GGG all along and would've beat him easy well after retiring and GGG looking vulnerable. He never sounded this confident when the fight was a realistic possibility. He was talking from the heart, not the head. And no matter what his head tells him, in his heart, he'll always be "too big, too strong" for GGG.

5y ago

Zaryu

To be fair to The Cobra, he was 37 years old and already considering retirement at the time. He never fought again and officially announced his retirement shortly afterwards. That's fine, I respect Froch a lot. He's a warrior and a terrific entertainer, but he talks as if he wanted to fight GGG all along and would've beat him easy well after retiring and GGG looking vulnerable. He never sounded this confident when the fight was a realistic possibility.

5y ago

ruedboy

After Froch talked about being asked to go down to 166, Tom Loefler tweeted this: "Out of respect to Froch and his marketability in UK we never asked for a catchweight, always clear at 168 with Eddie" https://twitter.com/TomLoeffler1/status/616652497734643712 When he was asked to clarify that Loeffler said that Carl brought a lot to the table, in terms of money and fans, and they had approached him with an offer, not the other way round, so asking for a catchweight wouldn't have been fair. Sounds reasonable, but haters don't do "reasonable". LOL

5y ago

Curt_Henning

Froch brought nothing to the table, no title and no clout. Didn't want to lose two more pounds. Oh well, his loss. Everyone wants to call out GGG but no one wants to fight him on his terms while he was champion. froch brought legitimacy and a huge british crowd/payday...the same type of payday/crowd he chased with a fight against kell brook...a friggin WW..."froch brought nothing"...listen to your pathetic selves...youll say anything to excuse your the shortcomings of your hero

5y ago

Curt_Henning

no one is suprised...mr "anyone to 168" was FOS...ward had to be drained...froch had to be drained...but if it was lazy chavez he thought was target practice ok...lol...golovkins career is a waste

5y ago

GhostofDempsey

5y ago

Jubei

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiEHWy72d3w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiEHWy72d3w

5y ago

Boxing1013

5y ago

kafkod

Froch sure loves to talk about how he would've beat GGG, but he had the chance to fight him and decided to retire. :rolleyes: To be fair to The Cobra, he was 37 years old and already considering retirement at the time. He never fought again and officially announced his retirement shortly afterwards.

5y ago

kafkod

What was the story there? After Froch talked about being asked to go down to 166, Tom Loefler tweeted this: "Out of respect to Froch and his marketability in UK we never asked for a catchweight, always clear at 168 with Eddie" https://twitter.com/TomLoeffler1/status/616652497734643712 When he was asked to clarify that Loeffler said that Carl brought a lot to the table, in terms of money and fans, and they had approached him with an offer, not the other way round, so asking for a catchweight wouldn't have been fair.

5y ago

kafkod

https://twitter.com/TomLoeffler1/status/616652497734643712

5y ago

Zaryu

Froch sure loves to talk about how he would've beat GGG, but he had the chance to fight him and decided to retire. :rolleyes:

5y ago

Willy_Wanker

Carl Froch reminds a lot of Lennox Lewis. Great fighter, but he probably has at least three pictures of himself in every room of his house, including the bathroom. I'm surprised Froch didn't randomly mention Calzaghe for some reason, I'm mildly disappointed.

5y ago

Boxing1013

Don't know how old that statement by Froch is, but what he said there about GGG wanting to fight him at 166 turned out to be incorrect. If it had happened, it would have been at 168. What was the story there?

5y ago

Boxing1013

Wasn't this article from like 5 years ago?

5y ago

RJJ9402GOAT

Carl Froch in the build up to Groves 2. ' Swerve Golovkin like the plague' :lol1: retires ' i would of won' :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

5y ago