Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch has been looking back over his career and says he can remember the exact moment he knew it had come to an end.
Froch is one of Britain’s most decorated and recognisable boxers of the last 20 years. He won just about every belt on his way through the ranks including more than one world title.
Known for his famously granite chin, highlights on his ledger include a last-minute knockout against Jermain Taylor when he was down on the cards, impressive wins over Jean Pascal and Lucien Bute and plenty of back and forth with Mikkel Kessler in two thrilling fights.
Froch will always be best remembered however for a pair of fights with George Groves. The first one was controversially stopped by referee Howard Foster when he deemed Groves unfit to continue even though many onlookers didn’t see it the same way.
Speaking to Boxing Scene he has now recalled when he knew it was all over.
“When I was training for the potential Chavez Jr. fight – a six-miler; 36 minutes is my best time for that – halfway around the run thinking about Chavez Jr., I got a bit of a stitch and my Achilles tendon was killing me; my knee was sore.
“There was a few aches and pains, and I’m running up this hill thinking, ‘Why am I doing this? I’ve done what I needed to do. I beat Groves at Wembley in a rematch. I’m 37.’ I stopped running.
“I’m walking, and it was the best walk ever. I’m walking home, and I’ve got a tear in me eye and I’m feeling emotional; it was a 25-minute walk; it would have been a 10-minute run. I got home, and [wife] Rachael’s like, ‘Where have you been? What’s gone off? What’s up with you?’. She could see it in my face.
“I just said to her – I’m getting a bit choked up now; I feel a bit silly; I can feel the emotion now – ‘It’s over; it’s done; I’m finished; I’m not fighting anymore’.
“She got hold of me, give me a cuddle, and said, ‘I’m so glad – I’m so happy for you’. I said, ‘I’ve got to speak to [my trainer] Rob McCracken – I’ve got to give him a ring’. She was really happy. “