Carl Froch wishes his career hadn’t come to be defined by his rematch at Wembley Stadium with George Groves.
The super-middleweight rivals fought for a second time on May 31, 2014 when, on a then-unrivalled occasion, they attracted a post-war record crowd of 80,000 to Wembley, where Froch so memorably stopped Groves in eight rounds.
That fight was to prove the last of a career so successful that in 2023 Froch was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, but after 10 years in retirement and despite having settled his biggest rivalry that night and been paid his biggest purse, Froch is aware so many of his other achievements are at risk of being overlooked.
There were also fine victories over Mikkel Kessler, Jermain Taylor, Jean Pascal, Arthur Abraham, Lucian Bute and others, and though by his own admission Froch recognises he is responsible for the extent to which he is reminded of beating Groves having discussed the occasion on television with Floyd Mayweather, there is at least one other night he values more
“It wasn’t Wembley,” the 46-year-old said. “It was [in 2012, Lucian] Bute. I went into that fight a loser – I’d lost to [in the final of the Super Six to Andre] Ward and was going in with somebody when no one thought I could win. He was champ; I was in Nottingham, my home city; the Nottingham Arena was packed, and the atmosphere was unbelievable.
“Becoming champion again – that’s the one that stands out for me. Wembley Stadium was a grudge match and a massive night and the last night of my career, but I had more euphoria and more endorphins running through the blood on the Bute night than the [George] Groves night.
“Not many people – in all sports – get their defining moment. Certain sportspeople are remembered for certain things. I got my defining moment chinning Groves at Wembley in front of all them people. But it grates on me a little bit that that’s what most people remember me for. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I don’t want to be remembered just for knocking George Groves out. When you think about my career before that and what I did and who I fought – it kind of gets overlooked.
“I had an unbelievable career before that Wembley fight. I’m grateful to have my defining moment, and it’s brilliant that I’ve got it, but my career had so much more depth. That whole fight was rubbish, apart from one punch. I’d much rather remember the first fight with Groves [a controversial victory in November 2013].”
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