Carl Froch has revealed the one man who has made him touch the canvas in sparring.
Known for his grit and fortitude in the ring, not many can boast hurting ‘The Cobra’ and only two can say they beat him as a professional.
Sparring stories will always be intriguing to boxing fans, and have been a particular focus within plenty of recent fight weeks. With the in mind, Froch has discussed his own experiences in the gym with some of Britain’s best.
Via his latest Froch on Fighting video, the four-time super middleweight champion first mentioned David Haye as a tough partner.
“David Haye gave me some hard sparring at the England squad when I was an amateur. He was too tall for me, too quick – even though he was heavier than me he was fast – long range, he used to take the piss a little bit actually. A bit of a bully boy.”
Haye would go onto win a heavyweight world title after his success at cruiserweight, so it’s no wonder that a naturally lighter Froch was tested.
It’s not what he brands as his toughest spar though – that falls to two-time Haye opponent and world cruiserweight champion, Tony Bellew.
“The toughest sparring I had was probably Tony Bellew. He was always bigger than me – he boxed at light heavyweight, obviously stepped up to cruiserweight. He’d be in the gym probably a stone and a half heavier than me.”
“He didn’t bully me or anything or try and knock me out – well he did try and knock me out, and he nearly did once. The only person to put me down in sparring was Tony Bellew.
I backed him into a corner … threw a bit of a lazy right hand, he counterpunched me and I walked straight onto it.”
Froch dealt with the knockdown in typical fashion – by joking that it didn’t happen.
“I went down on one knee, stood straight up, blamed it on my ACL reconstruction – ‘oh my knee’s a bit dodgy’ – but I finished the spar, and trust me, I got him back.”
Finally, ‘The Cobra’ discussed sparring in general, warning fans and fighters alike to not put too much emphasis on its importance when it comes down to fight night.
“I dropped George Groves in sparring and thought the fight with him would be easy, and look how hard it was.”
Froch hung up the gloves in 2014 after his second Groves victory, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame last year.