In an exclusive interview with bettingsites.co.uk, former Super-Middleweight World Champion Carl Froch admits his admiration for Frank Warren’s ‘cunning plan’ for Francis Ngannou ahead of his ‘play fight’ with Tyson.
The ‘Cobra’ also speaks candidly about ‘past his best’ Conor McGregor, admitting the Irishman would get absolutely hammered if they had a boxing match.
Interview Highlights:
- Fury v Ngannou is a ‘joke shop’ & ‘play fight’
- Froch calls out Jake Paul ‘I’d fight him and earn a fortune’
- Froch calls for ‘past his best’ McGregor to retire
Fury v Ngannou Is A Joke Shop And Play Fight
Cobra isn’t taking Ngannou’s bout with Fury serious but has admiration for Warren’s plan
Carl Froch: “I think it’s a ‘play fight’ and a bit ‘joke shop’ fight, which I’ve made my opinion quite clear on regarding this Fury vs Ngannou fight – it’s not real boxing, it’s not proper boxing but I think we are now starting to understand it.
“I think maybe it was a cunning plan by Frank Warren – because what he’s done is got this Ngannou fight lined up that boxing purists are not very happy about but in the meantime he’s announced Tyson Fury is fighting Oleksandr Usyk.
“So people are going to watch the Ngannou fight with one eye on the shape and the performance – thinking of what’s around the corner with the fights quite close together.
“A bit of a masterplan, genius from Frank Warren, because at the end of the day, Fury is getting paid his career-biggest payday for a ‘move around’ and I’ve said before I’d have done the same in my career.”
Froch Ready To Fight Jake Paul And Earn A Fortune
Froch understands fighting for a payday and would happily ‘warm up’ against Jake Paul.
Carl Froch: “If you were going to get your head smashed by Jean Pascal for X amount of money you can go and fight Jake Paul for 10x that – with the Jake Paul being a warm-up fight for someone like me as Jake Paul couldn’t even lace my boots. In fact I would even let Jake Paul lace my boots – that would be disrespecting my boots!
“So, I’d fight him – earn a fortune because of what’s going on at the minute in the world and easy money and onto a proper world title fight.
The Cobra calls for McGregor to retire from UFC
Though not officially retired, Froch doesn’t see the need for McGregor to start fighting again.
Carl Froch: “I think he realises now he’s past his best and he can still generate wealth but I don’t think that’s in competitive MMA. He’s got nothing to prove.
“He’s a legend of the game and he’s made enough coin but he’s not officially retired. I’ve got a lot of admiration for him. I give him stick and we talk about stuff.
“We had a little back and forth as he can’t box (can he?), so if he tried to box me he’d get absolutely hammered which is nothing personal – it’s just factual – and nothing against him.”
Froch Sceptical That Confirmed Fury v Usky Will Go Ahead
A post with the words ‘signed’ on Tyson Fury’s Instagram has not convinced Carl Froch that the fight between the Gypsy King & Oleksandr Usyk will go ahead;
Carl Froch: “Lucky for him {Tyson Fury}, Frank Warren and boxing that Fury has announced he’s fighting Usyk – because that’s very important that that fight happens.
“I’m still a little bit sceptical it will happen.”
Carl Froch is a British ex-professional boxer who fought at super-middlewight and was active between 2002-2014. His accomplishments across the 12 year professional career was holding the WBC title twice between 2008 and 2011, the IBF title from 2012-2015, and the WBA title between 2013-2015. Froch also held the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles between 2004-2008. Carl finished his professional boxing career with a record of 35 fights, 33 wins, 24 wins by knock out & 2 losses. The Nottingham fighter reached 6th in the pound for pound rankings by BoxRec and The Ring magazine In 2023, Froch will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Following his retirement in 2014, Carl has worked as a boxing analyst and commentator for Sky Sports and now runs a successful YouTube boxing account, @FrochonFighting, amassing 32k+ subscribers.
