Carl Froch had a famously granite chin but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t feel the power of the punches he took during his impressive career.
The super middleweight champion was one of the most entertaining British fighters for many years, rising through the ranks whilst rarely in dull fights. His all-action style and reliance on his toughness often ended in battles of attrition and most famously saw him secure a last-second knockout of Jermaine Taylor when a long way behind on the cards.
The most famous two bouts of his career came against George Groves. In the first one, he was put down in the first round but rallied to get a controversial stoppage. In the rematch, in front of 80, 000 people at Wembley, he got his revenge in epic fashion with a clean knockout of his own.
That said, Froch doesn’t consider that punch from Groves to be the hardest he ever took.
In speaking to The Ring Magazine for their Best I Ever Faced feature he instead went with fellow Brit Robin Reid.
“He hurt me the most with a single shot. I can’t say George Groves because he caught me square on in the first fight, when I left my feet behind me. That was a heavy knockdown made worse by my balance being off. Also, after his fast start dwindled, I came on strong, so I can’t say Groves. I remember Reid hitting me and saying, ‘F—ing hell, that hurt.’ Jermain Taylor had me down, but that was more of a sharp shot. Robin Reid could really bang, and in my opinion he deserved the win over Joe Calzaghe in their fight. That said, Calzaghe had to be tough to walk through the right hands he took from Reid.”
Reid and Froch came to blows in 2007 for the British super middleweight title at the Nottingham Arena where Froch, the hometown hero, won when his opponent retired after round five.
Hard-hitting Reid had another shot at the same belt in his final bout five years later, but fell short again to Kenny Anderson. The Olympic Bronze Medalist hung up the gloves with 42 wins from 51 fights, 29 of those coming by knockout.
