Speaking to Lord Ping in a wide ranging interview, the former world super middleweight champion Carl Froch predicts the winner of Anthony Joshua v Francis Ngannou and says Andre Ward would come out on top against Joe Calazage if the legends were to meet.
- I'd pay to see AJ knockout Andre Ward, but Ward beats Joe Calzaghe;
- AJ-Ngannou is a pointless exhibition;
- ‘Wrecking ball’ Ngannou can cause AJ ‘nightmares’
What do you think about Andre Ward's recent comments on Anthony Joshua and Joe Calzaghe
CF: I think Andre Ward's comments on Anthony Joshua and Joe Calzaghe are f****** ridiculous because Anthony Joshua is far too big for him. It would be a mismatch because of the size difference. I don't get where he's coming from. AJ is six feet six and 18 stone, Andre Ward wouldn't have a f******* chance. Boxing is a weight governed sport, Ward is talking nonsense. I think he gives Calzaghe a really tough fight though, that's a tough night for Calzaghe, a great fight. But he's talking bullshit about Anthony Joshua. AJ is too big and too strong for Andre Ward, I'd actually enjoy watching AJ knockout Andre Ward, I'd pay to see it. But Ward does beat Calzaghe, he doesn't really have any chinks in his armour. Calzaghe deserved to lose against Robin Reid, Reid should have got the nod. And he also struggled against an old Hopkins and an old Roy Jones, so you've got to pick Ward over Calzaghe.
Is AJ-Ngannou good for boxing?
CF: It's bad for boxing because who wants to watch it? Because when Joshua wins, what's he done? What's he achieved? F*** all. All he wants is bragging rights to say he did a better job than Fury, but no one cares. Joshua Ngannou is a pointless fight. It's doing nothing for boxing, sure, it keeps him ticking over while he waits for the winner of Fury versus Usyk, but why not fight a real boxer; fight Zhilei Zhang, fight Joe Joyce, fight Daniel Dubois. There are fights available to Joshua against top contenders and real boxers. But instead he's jumping in with Ngannou in a pointless exhibition.
Can Ngannou cause the upset?
CF: Ngannou is big and strong and has distance and timing, he's got a good boxer's eye, so he has more than a chance of causing the upset. I expect AJ to thoroughly outbox him as an Olympic champion should.. The sensible thing for AJ to do is to use his boxing ability, the ability he learned over the years from Rob McCracken. From being an amateur with Rob McCracken to becoming a world champion under Rob McCracken. He should use his skills he learned from the guy who guided him to an Olympic gold medal and two world titles. If he uses those skills against Ngannou it could be a shutout points performance. But Ngannou is a born fighter, a wrecking ball, a f******* machine and if he sticks it on AJ and shows him no respect, from what I saw against Fury, anything could happen, he could make it a nightmare for AJ. He will come and have a go, but AJ should be able to shut him down with movement, but it's not a foregone conclusion.
Could promoter’s divert some of the Saudi riches to help boxing’s grassroots?
CF: The Saudis won't be there forever putting mega money in. I can see why the fighters are taking the dough, but the promoters are being greedy. What I think they should be saying is - we've got this massive pot of money from the Saudis and what we are actually going to do is invest some of it in grassroots boxing, we're going to make some of it available to ex-fighters who have been injured, we're going to set something up for betterment of boxing. We're still going to pay AJ 30 million quid - there's plenty left for the promoters to line their pockets - but with some of the excess from these huge paydays, they could say we're going to setup the future of boxing and make boxing a better sport; provide the boxing equipment for those that need it at grassroots and look after ex fighters like Nick Blackwell who have been injured by the sport. But human beings are greedy, selfish, horrible things. The promoters will take all the money, and it is an absurd amount of money that the Saudis are putting in.
Has the South American drug retreat taken away Deontay Wilder’s killer instinct?
CF: I think Auyhausa affected Deontay Wilder's performance, I think it took away his killer instinct and the desire to cause damage. I think it chilled him out too much, it's not good for you. Bad move that. I think he should retire now, he's lost to Joseph Parker, who lost to Diliian Whyte, come on. He's going on as well in age, he's made plenty of money, he's in touch with his spiritual side now and it's put him at peace, but he's no longer in a fighter's frame of mind. He's a lover.
Thoughts on USA Boxing allowing trans women to box in the female category?
CF: It's ridiculous and disgraceful and I'm calling on them to overturn their decision. It's disgraceful that someone who was born a man, who may be physically and genetically stronger, will now be allowed to fight a woman. You're potentially going to have a man beating up a woman, that's going to be legal and acceptable. I don't care if they're on hormones or steroids, it doesn't matter. Look at William Thomas the swimmer, now called Lia. They were ranked around 400th in the world when they were competing as a man, but as a women they won everything, but that's swimming not boxing. Don't allow trans women to compete in boxing. They should not be competing in women's sports, it's dead simple. It's a safety issue. It could end with a woman having her skull smashed in and badly knocked unconscious by a trans woman.
How will Conor McGregor get on at 185 against Michael Chandler?
CF: Conor McGregor won't be taking the fight that seriously if he fights at the higher weight class. It's indication to me that he won't be taking Chandler seriously in training and when you don't prepare properly, he could end up getting hurt. The mindset is not going to be right and he's going to be unprepared and it could be really dangerous if he's not training - he's going to get beat up and knocked out or tapped out.
Should Kell Brook stay retired?
CF: Kell Brook needs to leave it. He's been out of the ring too long now. He had his last hurrah against Amir Khan, he had that big payday, a big night under the lights, that was his testimonial fight. He needs to stay retired, don't entertain it. It's too hard of a sport to come back after the lay off he's had. He needs to find something else in retirement.
Why did you have a nose job?
CF: The reason I had the nose job is because I had a deviated septum and my sinuses were f******. And my sleeping was bad and my snoring was bad, so my wife said 'are you going to get your nose fixed?', so I went to a private surgeon and when I spoke to him about getting my breathing sorted, he asked who was I having to do the aesthetics of my nose because he said afterwards you'll still look the same, why not improve the aesthetic at the same time; shave the lump, make it straight and generally more aesthetically pleasing, so I thought, if I'm going to get it sorted - and I'm on the television - why not let him come and sort it, so I asked him to make it look like I hadn't had my nose smacked and broke and he said he'd give me the nose god intended me to have before I found boxing.
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