Carl Froch was famously durable in the ring, never being stopped during a multiple world championship, 35-fight pro campaign.
The Nottingham man won many dramatic battles against the super-middleweight division’s best, famously getting up off the canvas to stop Jermain Taylor in the dying seconds of their 2009 bout.
Having only lost to Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler, which he avenged later in a rematch, Froch hung up the gloves off the back of an emphatic knockout win over British rival George Groves at Wembley Stadium.
Speaking to Pro Box TV, ‘The Cobra’ was candid in saying that, despite his confidence in beating the best of past generations, four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jr would have ‘hammered him’ had they met in the ring.
“He hits ya. I can’t say he wouldn’t have hit me, because I get hit with shots. If I’d have got my guard up, he’d have brought that guard down. He’d have been too quick with that jab and he’d have just out-worked me, with speed.”
“[Jones would] have hammered me. You asked me what would have happened — he’d have beaten me up. That’s what would have happened.”
Jones’ super-middleweight run was a period of dominance. After moving up from 160lbs, he outclassed James Toney to win the IBF belt at 168 and went on to defend it five times before a move up to 175.
‘Captain Hook’ from Pensacola, Florida, was the first former middleweight champion to win a belt at heavyweight in over a century. He has a record of 66 wins from 76 fights and, though he has not officially retired, last competed in 2023 with a loss to MMA fighter Anthony Pettis.
