By: Hans Themistode
Carl Froch thoroughly enjoyed his boxing career. After picking wins against several notable names such as Lucian Bute, Mikkel Kessler, and George Groves – Froch hung up his gloves on a high note as a unified super middleweight champion.
At the age of 44, Froch doesn’t feel the itch or the need to re-enter the ring. Nowadays, the British native spends his time watching the action from a safe distance as a ringside commentator. Although Froch accepts that his career is done and over with, he does envision how matchups against some of the sport’s best current fighters would have played out.
While Froch would’ve been interested in facing them all, the one fighter he’s fixated on, is current IBF middleweight champion, Gennadiy Golovkin. Although the multiple-time 160-pound titlist is known for his knockout power, Froch is fully convinced that he would’ve dealt with him with little to no issues.
“I’d have been too much for him,” said Froch. “I met him and he’s 5’9”/5’10”. When I meet somebody and I shake their hand and I’m looking in their eyes, I might be wrong, but me as the fighter and the warrior I was when I was fighting, I was shaping and sizing him up thinking, ‘if I ever fight you, no problem.'”
Presently, Golovkin is hard at work as he prepares to unify his IBF crown against WBA titleholder, Ryota Murata. The two have agreed to square off towards the end of the year in Murata’s native land of Japan.
At the age of 39, Golovkin is viewed as being at the tail end of his career. However, when he was at the peak of his powers, a matchup between Golovkin and Froch was quietly being discussed behind the scenes. Froch admits that talks of their contest taking place were quite serious but ultimately, discussions broke down due to a dispute over weight. Had a deal materialized, Froch is confident that their showdown would have been one-way traffic.
To back his claim, Froch points to a 2015 matchup against Martin Murray. Golovkin may have gone on to pick up the victory via 11th round stoppage but Froch, needless to say, wasn’t impressed.
“He went eleven rounds with Martin Murray. At that sort of level, you’re not gonna give me a problem. End of a jab, walk you into some shots, I’d be too much for you.”