Tony Bellew has warned Carl Froch what the outcome would be if they stepped in the boxing ring. The 41-year-old hung up his gloves in 2018 following a defeat to the undefeated Oleksandr Usyk, the current WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion, but has now suggested he could come back.
Bellew is good friends with Froch and the latter has previously joked about contesting a fight with the former light-heavyweight world champion. During an interview with Boxing Social, the Liverpudlian explained what it would take to convince him to come out of retirement and he was very confident about the outcome of the fight.
“Was Carl Froch really joking? You really never know with Carl,” he said. “I don’t know what the price would be to get me in the ring to fight Carl in an exhibition, but it wouldn’t go the distance I can tell you that much.
“Never say never. It wouldn’t take place at Goodison Park, but Carl wouldn’t see the final bell let me tell you that. If somebody offers me the right price, then I’m sorry to say that I am fighting again. Everybody has a price and everyone on social media can say what they like but if everybody needs to get paid and if they offer the right price then you do it and get on it.”
Bellew would certainly have a physical advantage given the former cruiserweight fighter ended his career as a heavyweight, while Froch competed at super-middleweight throughout his entire boxing run. Though the pair sparred multiple times during their careers, their different weight classes prevented a fight from taking place. Talk of the boxers fighting one another came in September of 2023.
During a video on Froch’s YouTube channel titled Froch on Fighting, Bellew appeared as a guest and they answered some questions from a viewer, one of which was about the pair contesting a boxing match. “A prime Carl Froch against a prime Tony Bellew at a catchweight, who wins?”, said Froch, who ended his career after knocking out George Groves at Wembley Stadium in 2014.
Bellew tried to shut it down by quickly saying Froch would win, a different approach from his recent comments, before ‘The Cobra’ replied: “I’m not so sure about that, you can’t just give in that easy. Look at the spars.” The former WBC cruiserweight champion hit back: “Yeah but they were behind closed doors.
“What happens in the gym stays in the gym until you, you silly b******, you put it in your book. I don’t believe in telling gym stories. And I don’t believe in talking about shoulda, woulda, coulda.”
Froch pressed Bellew again and said: “Yeh, it would be a barnstormer. Shall we do it as an exhibition?” Bellew finally relented and added he would have had ‘an absolutely great fight’ with Froch, before claiming he would need significant financial persuasion to fight again.
