Carl Froch fancies Las Vegas bout before boxing retirement

Super-middleweight champion riding high after George Groves knockout at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Andre Ward could be potential upcoming opponents.

British boxer Carl Froch knocked out George Groves on Saturday and hopes his next bout will be at the ‘fight capital of the world’. Andy Rain / EPA

LONDON // Carl Froch might postpone retirement to fulfil his dream of fighting in Las Vegas, despite conceding his career could get no better than his eighth-round knock-out victory against George Groves at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night.

The WBA and IBF super-middleweight champion, 36, landed a massive right hand flush on fellow Briton Groves’s cheek to end his 12th world-title fight in emphatic fashion in front of a sell-out crowd of 80,000, a post-war British record.

After the fight, Froch said his 24th knockout victory was the highlight of his glittering career and indicated he might hang up his gloves, since he believes the electric atmosphere surrounding his win will never be topped.

But with time to contemplate his future outside the ring, the grizzled Nottingham fighter said yesterday that it is likely he will bid to extend his 33-2 record, with some of his boxing dreams still unfulfilled.

“I’m a very young 36,” Froch told Sky Sports. “There’s some steam left in this old train and a couple of big fights still out there for me if they’re available.

“If I do fight again, which I dare say I probably will, it will be somewhere like Las Vegas, because that’s one thing I’ve not done in my career.

“Every fighter would like to tick that box. It’s the fight capital of the world. All the greats have boxed there and for me not to have done so, with all the things I’ve done, would be a crying shame.”

Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and unbeaten WBC super-middleweight champion Andre Ward, who beat Froch on points in 2011, are widely considered as potential opponents in a Las Vegas fight.

Froch says he will take a holiday before deciding his future, but should he fight again, opponents and pundits alike should not underestimate him despite his advancing years.

“The answer to those who doubted my age came last night,” Froch said. “I’ve still got it.”

DeGale could be next in line for Froch

James DeGale earned the chance to face Carl Froch after beating Brandon Gonzales in a fourth-round stoppage at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

DeGale lost to George Groves in a decision in 2011 and could now face another Briton in Froch after a dominant display against Gonzales.

The victory means DeGale is the mandatory IBF challenger to the super-middleweight title. DeGale, who won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, came out of the traps fast and the fight was stopped in the fourth as Gonzales wobbled.

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