Known as ‘The Cobra’ Carl Froch ended his illustrious career with an impressive 33 of his 35 fights won. Even more impressively, of these 33 wins, an astonishing 24 of them were from knockouts. During his career, Froch won the WBC title twice, IBF belt and the WBA belt, as well as a bronze medal during his amateur career.
Fighting his last match in May of 2014, defeating his arch-rival George Groves in a re-match at Wembley Stadium, Froch chose to retire on a career-high. After-all, Froch himself said he had chosen retirement as he had nothing else left to prove, his legacy speaking for itself.
Yet, with the recent success of Floyd Mayweather returning to the ring for a big payday, the 40-year old Froch has had numerous rumours surrounding himself about whether he’d be tempted to put on his boxing gloves again as well. Currently working as a Sky Sports Boxing pundit and dabbling in professional poker, it’s clear Froch still has that competitive nature, but it would have to be someone special in order to coax him out of his retirement. Here are 5 picks that might just offer that much-needed temptation:
#1 – Mikkel Kessler
When Mikkel Kessler announced in March this year that he would be returning to the ring in November, Carl Froch took notice. Although Froch himself is known for his views that retired boxers should stay retired, Kessler’s return to the ring after Froch himself retired him in May 2013 has got the former champion thinking. Especially since Froch and Kessler have fought twice before with each man bagging a win, a third fight could settle this rivalry once and for all.
#2 – Andre Ward
Andre Ward stunned the world of boxing by announcing a shock retirement at just 33, an announcement that Froch himself was surprised at, believing the American still had a few big fight pay-outs left in him, but commented that he was glad to see the back of the unbeaten champion. Froch has never hid his disdain of Ward, who beat Froch in 2011, although he claims this dislike isn’t sourness over his loss, but rather that Ward is a boring boxer who lacked excitement in the ring. Either way, there’s no denying that a future fight between these two could be highly entertaining.
#3 – George Groves
After Froch won a controversial win over George Groves in 2013, there has been a heated rivalry between these two boxers, a rivalry that should have been put to bed with Froch’s win, and subsequent retirement match, against Groves in 2014. Currently the WBA super-middleweight champion, Groves has a lot to prove against Froch, and the retired Cobra might just be coaxed out to show the world that Groves is still beatable.
#4 – Joe Calzaghe
Although at 45 years old, and with his last fight in 2008, it’s unlikely that Joe Calzaghe will ever return to the ring, his famous spat with Carl Froch never ended in the ring. Speaking recently about the match that never happened, Calzaghe quipped that he didn’t remember who Froch was, a remark that’s likely to annoy the former champion. Calzaghe then went on to claim he would have won the match, it would be intriguing to see if he was right.
#5 – Amir Khan
Once the golden-boy of boxing, Khan has recently hit the headlines over a very public divorce from his wife, with a lot of private information being posted on social media sites like Twitter from Khan. A move that was reprimanded by Froch, who although believes spats in boxing between opponents is a healthy part of the lifestyle, believes that Khan went too far by “airing his dirty laundry”. Froch has also suggested that it’s about time that Khan gives in and retires, perhaps Froch could be the one to end his career?
Let us know your thoughts below, on Facebook and Twitter and tell us which boxer you’d most like to see The Cobra come out of retirement for?