By Edward Chaykovsky

Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport is not in favor of Carl Froch facing WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, because he feels the Nottingham fighter will not be motivated to face the dangerous puncher.

Froch has not fought since last May's knockout victory against George Groves at Wembley Stadium. He was very motivated to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a Las Vegas pay-per-view encounter. That didn't happen after Chavez was knocked out last month and Froch was recently stripped of his WBA super middleweight title.

Every time Froch is asked about facing Golovkin, he appears to have very little interest. Hearn says at this stage of his career, there I no reason for Froch to face any opponent with a lack of motivation. At this point Hearn says it's more likely that Froch will retire than fight again.

"If you're going to fight unmotivated, given the way he fights, you're going to get hurt," Hearn said to Daily Mail. "I don't think anyone would like to see that. It's difficult to leave the sport but it's great to leave the sport thinking 'I've done it all' and you can live with yourself forever. If you go and have a fight and you lose or get knocked out it will leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth."

"I think we might have reached the end of the road for Carl. The WBA have stripped him and it's not unexpected. We were expecting it because you can't just sit on belts. It's fair enough because he's got no fight planned and no fight scheduled.

"As time passes I think it's increasingly unlikely that Froch will ever fight again. Now it feels like it could be the right time [to retire]. From a fan perspective I'd love to see him back in the ring but as a friend I feel like he's been there and done it. He's going to bow out at Wembley with the win against George Groves, what a way to do it."