Carl Froch has opened up on the moment he knew that his professional boxing career was over with.
Having not long knocked out George Groves in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley, the super-middleweight world champion had an opportunity for a fight with the son of a boxing legend.
Speaking on the George Groves Boxing Club podcast to the man who served as his final opponent, Froch said that he was just about to begin preparations to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr when the retirement realisation came.
“Actually yeah, I did have a moment. Good question. I went for a run when Eddie [Hearn] said this [Julio Cesar Chavez Jr] fight might be on. He said ‘You need to find out if you want it, if you do you’ve got to let me know cause I’m going to push forward for it … Sky will do it.’
We talked about money and what the money would be.”
Thankfully, it wasn’t in the ring that ‘The Cobra’ found out his body wasn’t up to it any longer, but on a run.
“I got up on a Monday morning and I went for a run … I was running and I would never, ever quit on a run. Whatever run it is I would never stop running. If I stop running and quit running, I’ve failed. I can’t win a fight if I can’t even do a run.”
“I was like a quarter of the way round it and my ankle was hurting, my lower back was sore, my lungs were burning … and I was just running thinking ‘I feel like an old man.’ You do at the start of a camp anyway, you don’t feel great, but I just started walking.”
“As I’m walking, I’m thinking ‘I’ve just quit on a run.’ … I stretched my Achilles off and I was thinking to myself ‘that is it now, I’m done.’
Finally, addressing his emotions at the time, he admits he was down.
“I was sad … I said [to his wife] ‘It’s done. It’s over.’ And I was literally crying. Like tears running down my face. Not bellowing, but I was emotional.”
The moment @Carl_Froch knew his career was over 🥲 pic.twitter.com/L4xQVXgyza
— The George Groves Boxing Club (@GGBoxingClub) November 16, 2022
Froch goes onto say that his wife, Rachel, comforted him and told him she was proud of him – perhaps helping him realise that, although the moment was a sad one, the legacy he would leave in the sport was to be celebrated and remembered fondly.