In an exclusive interview with GamesHub, ex-world champion Carl Froch discussed the upcoming Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua fight and gave his thoughts on who Conor Benn should fight next after beating Chris Eubank Jr…
- No chance that Okolie is actually sparring Jake Paul 👊
- Froch hoping for a handshake if he sees AJ in Miami ☮️
- Conor Benn warned not to fight ‘dangerous’ Ryan Garcia 🚫
- Chris Eubank Jr labelled a pr*ck over arrogant attitude 🍆
- Reveals Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois prediction 💭
- Conor McGregor back on the right path is fantastic news 🇮🇪
GamesHub: What do you make of Conor McGregor’s psychedelic drug treatment and ‘spiritual’ journey, do you believe it will change him for the better after his inactivity?
Carl Froch: I don’t feel we’ll ever get the old Conor McGregor back because he was a fierce competitor and he was a showman. He changed the game and fair play to him, he absolutely smashed it because he transcended into a whole new group of people who knew him and weren’t necessarily UFC fans or mixed martial art fans. They were just people who were interested in Conor McGregor and to see him come out the other side and go down the wrong road for a little bit, little vices in life and then come out of that now. Because he seems to be doing well. Hopefully he can stay on that path.
But I’ve got a lot of respect for Conor McGregor. I admire him. I’ve got a lot of time for him. And people would say, oh yeah he’s had that civil case. But listen, you’ve got to be judged on how you know the guy and what he’s doing now moving forward. We can all make mistakes. We’re all sinners. No one’s perfect. But if he’s on a path now where he is doing his bare knuckle boxing and he is focused and he’s changing lives. And it’s all positive, then he’s on the right path. So I respect the guy. I’ve got a lot of time for him.
GamesHub: Have you had any more banter with Anthony Joshua over text message since this Jake Paul fight was announced?
A: No more banter at all. I think if me and AJ saw each other, which we might be doing in Miami, when he fights Jake Paul, hopefully we will have a handshake and have a chat. He knows there’s no problem. I used to sit at was it the Travelers Rest or the Premier Lodge in Sheffield and he used to have a 12 egg omelette and I think where the f**k does he put 12 eggs? And I sit there in amazement and chat with him. My coach, Rob McCracken, used to be his coach, so we’ve got a lot in common and have a lot of history together. There’s no bad blood or malice. There’s no jealousy or no vendetta. It’s just me being honest about where he is out of his career. He’s been brilliant for professional boxing. What he’s done for the sport is phenomenal and no one’s done that since Ricky Hatton or Naseem Hamed in terms of transcending the sport.
We’ve seen world champions come and go that haven’t done as much stuff for the sport as AJ. Joe Calzaghe was a fantastic champion but he never really did much for the sport in terms of getting people involved in it and getting people’s attention. You get a few superstars, which really do transcend the sport and bring it to the next level and get it into the public eye and get the armchair fan interested. AJ’s one of them, but I think AJ’s professional boxing career is over and I think fighting Jake Paul shows how much it’s over. I don’t care what Eddie Hearn says about he wants an eight round warm up fight. He wants to fight him. He is ranked in the top 100 and then go on to become a world champion.
AJ’s taking the Jake Paul fight because he’s cashing out. And who can blame him? He’s been a two time world champ. He’s fought the best of the best and he only fell short against Usyk twice. He didn’t win the fight, but he was in there with the best, probably one of the all time greats and then he tried again. And he got banjo’d by Daniel Dubois who can punch like a f**king mule. He’s a big puncher knocking people out in the gym. I’ve seen him sparring and every time he hits somebody it’s like they’ve had the stun gun. It’s like they’ve had an electric shock and AJ walked into one. He had a go and he found his limit. He’s found his level. So now he needs to look at his health and look at what he’s got after boxing, and if he can make £50mil whatever he’s making to fight f**king in the clown world against the clown show. Then take the money. I can’t see AJ fighting for a world title again. I don’t know who he fights and who he would beat and how we would get that desire back to become a world champion.
But Eddie Hearns got to sell it and try and say, AJ’s going to be a world champion again. three time world champion. But I’m not buying any of that bullshit. I think AJ’s had a great career. He’s achieved, he’s done massive things for professional boxing. And now he’s at the end of his career and he’s cashing out, and who can blame him? I’d do exactly the same at the end of my career. I’d fight f**king Jake Paul for mega money and then drop the mic and then go home. So I’m not going to knock him for doing it
GamesHub: AJ has confirmed he won’t train under Ben Davison for this fight but will instead prepare with members of Usyk’s team. Do you think that that could maybe reignite a flame in AJ?
A: No, he’s too old. I’ve been 36, 37 years old, but I’ve never had £150 million in the bank. And I think the combination of his age, the fact that he’s been flattened a couple of times and now he is making mega money, why is he going to try and become a world champion again? He’s got to train for 10 weeks and spar really hard. And then he has to get in the ring and fight with 10 ounce gloves. Against somebody like Dubois or he’s not going to fight Usik again, that may be sticks around and fights Tyson Fury, because that’s another one for me, another commercial mega fight, which is actually fighting somebody who’s on the same level because Tyson Fury’s not been in the ring now for a long time.
He puts a lot of weight on between fights and he won’t be as fit and as strong as he was in his prime. So that’s one that’ll probably happen. I mean AJ’s had it off! If he fights Jake Paul and makes £50mil then fights Tyson Fury, win or lose. It’s going to be a close fight. It’s going to be a good fight. And then he’s off into the sunset. I don’t think he’ll quite make that billion he wants to make, but I bet he is not far off. If he carries on doing that. Jake Paul then Fury, maybe Eddie’s looking at that. Shrewd Eddie is all about the money.
GamesHub: Talking about hard sparring and 10 week training camps, Lawrence Okolie and Frank Sanchez have been brought in for sparring by Jake Paul. Do you think that could maybe give him an edge in this fight?
GamesHub: They’re not sparring f**king Jake Paul. They’re moving around with him, touching him up with a little jab and the little technical bulls**t. They’re not sparring him. Lawrence Okolie is quite a good puncher. He’s big now. Jake Paul’s not good enough to spar him. So let’s see the footage. Let’s see the sparring and then I’ll believe it. I still don’t believe the Jake Paul vs AJ fight is going to happen, but I’ve got flights booked. I’m leaving next Tuesday to go out to Miami, but I still don’t believe it’s happening. Hence why I’ve not paid for the flight someone else has, but someone thinks it’s happening. I’m going out there and I’m just intrigued, like, what’s going to happen? What is going to happen? It’s a sanctioned fight. It can’t be fixed. It’s a federal offense in America, if that’s fixed. They might have gone to Miami because they can be paid and they can sanction it. The British Boxing Board of Control won’t have anything to do with it. The New York State won’t have anything to do with it. Nevada won’t touch it. But Floridians, they’ve had it.
And because it’s not an exhibition, there can’t be a set agreement there because it’s illegal. So this has to be a proper fight. And every single boxing fan who knows about how boxing works, knows that if AJ goes in with Jake Paul and tries, the fight won’t last a minute. Because the first one-two he lands… Have a look at that Ngannou fight. And what happened to Francis Ngannou who took Tyson Fury eight rounds. Well look at how that fight ended. If he hits Jake Paul with that right hand, he might f**king snap his neck. And then it’s game over. And then it is bad for the sport.
GamesHub: Ryan Garcia supposedly turned down $15million for that Jake Paul fight. Half of the reason was that he wants to fight Conor Benn. He wants to do that in the UK. How do you feel that that fight would go?
A: I think it’s a tough fight for Conor Benn. I think Conor Benn needs to see if he can get down to 147lb. I think he’s somewhere between 147 and 154 I think because he’s now quite a solid 160 pound fighter. So a solid middleweight but probably not big enough to stay at middle and do any damage at that weight. But drop down to 154, which is super welterweight, I think he’s got a chance of becoming a world champion. But he needs to be guided correctly. He needs the right fights at the right time. He’s still not even 30 years old yet. If he has one or two more fights after the confidence and the accolades of the two Eubank fights, he could end up becoming a world champion. And he is an exciting guy. He’s an exciting prospect.
He’s great to watch, but he is a prospect, so you can’t chuck him in with Ryan Garcia. Ryan Garcia is a dangerous fighter, a big puncher. He’s been in there with Gervonta Davis. He’s had some good fights, close fights and some great wins. I don’t think putting Conor Benn in with a Ryan Garcia straight away in his next fight is a good idea. I might be wrong. Conor Benn might get in there, he might be strong enough, big enough. Ryan Garcia has probably not got that desire he used to have. He’s beaten himself at times. He beat Devin Haney, then he failed that drugs test. But Garcia is fast, big puncher and a world level operator.
Conor Benn, for me, is a prospect. He’s never won a title, British title, European title, any of the sort of fringe world titles like the WBC silver or the interim WBA. World level fights, they get you level up to the level of becoming a world champion. And he’s all right. He’s done 12 rounds twice with Chris Eubank Jr. But Chris Eubank Jr. is not good enough to compete at world level, which he found out when he fought Billy Joe Saunders, when he fought Liam Smith, when he fought George Groves. He’s not at that level. I’m always honest and I like Conor Benn. I’m quite biased towards Connor. I think he’s a great lad, a great prospect. Such a nice gentleman. I love everything he stands for. I love his dad. I like Junior’s dad as well.
I think Junior’s a prick. I don’t really like him. I don’t like his attitude. He’s an arrogant f**king prick and he is annoying because there’s no need for it. Go and f**king do something and walk around like your own f**king place. You know what I mean? You’ve done f**k all. So no need for the attitude, but that’s just his persona. But Conor Benn is a nice young man and I like him. And so if I’m looking after, if I’m managing him, which Tony Sims will do, well, I just don’t think he wants to be jumping in here. But if he wants to try and dare to be great and jump in with him and he might have got timed it right, then go for it.
But I think Barrios is good fight for him, a winnable fight, and then a couple of defenses and then become a seasoned world champion, get that belt, defend it, bonafide f**king proper. But he’s earned good money against Eubank Jr. So now to go and fight somebody who’s twice as hard for a quarter of the money, it’s hard. Ryan Garcia a glossy fight. It’s big. And if he goes in there and beats Garcia, then he’s landed at the top. That won’t be for a world title though, will it? No, it’s just a big fight, a big name, and it sets him up then for world title fights. But I like to see him take his time with him. He’s had a big hype job. He’s had two big fights with Eubank Jr. Done well. Lost the first one, the close one corrected it. Come back a second time. Battered Eubank people say Eubank was not what he was, but he did what he had to do, so he deserves all the credit for that. This might just be noise. If he fights Ryan Garcia, I’ll be fucking watching it and I’ll be excited for that one because that’s a great fight.
GamesHub: Joseph Parker had the failed test after losing to Faio Wardley. What do you think’s next for Joseph Parker?
A: I’m not sure. It’s a real shame. He had an opportunity where he was tapping on the door for the Usyk fight, a big money fight and then just failed for a recreational drug. And you just think, what’s going on? Has someone slipped somewhere in his drink. Has he been tested? I don’t know what’s going on there. I don’t think cocaine’s a mess. I mean, you don’t wanna be taking that before you fight or whatever. It always puts a bad stain on professional boxing when stuff like this happens.
Joseph Parker just seemed like such a straight shooter. He’s like Mr. Perfect because he says all the right things, he looks the part and because he’ll fight anybody. He trains hard and then he tries to win. But someone didn’t look right in the end of that fight against Fabio Wardley, when he was getting punched from pillar to post. It seemed like something was wrong and then he failed that drug test. It kind of makes sense because all he had to do was hold on or take a knee or fight back or do something. But he sat there getting clubbed and kind of didn’t know where it was. So it was a strange one. It’s a bad one for Parker. I don’t know where he is going to go from here.
GamesHub: And what next for Fabio Wardley? Derek Chisora predicts he will fight, and beat Daniel Dubois. Is that a good fight for Fabio?
A: If you don’t get caught on the chin with a big heavy right hand off Dubois, Fabio Wardley could outwork him. But it’s a dangerous fight for Wardley. Dubois is a big puncher. A big puncher and a dangerous puncher for 12 rounds. So, but he is there now. Only after, after beating Parker. Parker’s, world level. He’s done the job with him. He’s got options on, it’s got some stage. He’s going to have to take the plunge, but I don’t think I’d fight Dubois. Maybe AJ could be the fight for him. But AJ won’t fight Wardley. Too high risk, low reward. And now AJ is in the clown world, he’s not going to want that. He’s going to want the clown world money. After the Jake Paul fight, I can’t see AJ fighting again. He’s had 14 months out of the ring at 36 years of age, he is finished. He’ll take the money from the Paul fight, fair play to him, anybody would. I certainly would! Then he’ll retire, that’s what will happen unless Eddie Hearn’s persuasive skills get to him.
GamesHub: You spoke about big punchers there, what do you think about a potential fight between Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz?
A: Deontay Wilder is finished. Ruiz is about finished too. Ruiz has never been that good has he? Let’s be honest. What’s Ruiz ever done? Beat AJ up in New York, that was it. AJ had a bad night, didn’t he? AJ had a bad buildup to that too. Rob McCracken was training AJ in the buildup to that fight, and without giving any details, he had a bad camp. That’s probably a fight he shouldn’t have taken, but he put it right in the rematch. AJ is a tryer, he’s brave. Like I say, he jumped in my Usyk twice. Not many will jump in with Usyk twice. Obviously that’s where the money is though. But yeah, Deontay Wilder is finished. It’s not a fight I want to see. Does anybody actually want to watch Wilder fight again? Surely not. Zhang beat him, and he’s an old man. What would you want to see Wilder fight again for after that?
GamesHub: Agit Kabayel is probably one of the most underrated heavyweights at the moment. If he wins this fight in Germany against Damian Knyba early next year then he becomes mandatory for one of Uysk’s belts. Would he have a chance against Usyk?
A: Kabayel is a dangerous fighter. Usyk will fight anybody, but yeah, Kabayel has definitely got a shout against Usyk there. It’s a great fight. I think Usyk is too good for him though. It’s a fight we can potentially get excited about.
GamesHub: You took your diet pretty seriously during your career. What do you think of John Fury’s diet of eating the same meal three times a day? He eats strewed lamb hearts with a bunch of other stuff.
A: I saw a picture of that. It’s disgusting sh*t. But to be fair, livers and organs and stuff like that is so good for you. It’s not a bad diet. I eat liver, I eat lots of red meat, steak, organic grass fed. It might not all be organic, it’s grass fed steak. Ribeye is my go-to. I have liver once a week, lamb’s liver from the butchers. Cheap as anything, but f**king horrible, but I just think food is what you thrive on. You don’t want to eat processed sh*t out of packets or fake food. So if he’s on that, then he’s doing a good job. But I think John Fury is in decent shape for an old boy. If he’s eating all of that stuff like hearts and organs, then it’s good food. We’re not supposed to eat plants and all this plant-based shit. F**king vegan food is now ultra processed. It’s absolute sh*t. A guy called Jordan Peterson, I listened to a lot of his podcasts. Clinical psychologist from Canada. He had a rare form of Crohn’s disease and his daughter had Crohn’s disease. He was really ill, on death’s door. He was dying and he had a diet of steak, salt, and water for two years. He had that and he’s totally cured of everything he had. Totally cured and doctors can’t believe it. It’s a diet of processed shit that people are eating now. Non-organic produce that they’re just pumping in. Even tap water, don’t go near it. You’ve got to watch what you eat. Raw food, one single ingredient food, raw foods, and you’ll thrive. But that’s my little tip and advice on your diet. Take it or leave it.
GamesHub: With see the likes of Moses Itauma and Leo Atang coming through, what do you think of a rivalry between them going forward? They’re yet to fight but it looks like they want to eventually…Could it be bigger than Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn?
A: A rivalry like that, potentially, but it depends on how much hype is around it. And with Benn and Eubank Jr, the first one was genuine hatred, Benn was fuming at Eubank. Eubank had that finesse and his arrogance and people were interested in it. Obviously me and Groves genuinely didn’t like each other and I’m being polite. And then obviously the next generation, Conor and Eubank Jr, there was no beef, it was just legacy. I don’t think it was genuine beef like their old men had. Nigel Benn still can’t stand Eubank Sr. He’s got no time for him, he just tells him to f*ck off now. He can’t be arsed dealing with him, which is fair enough because he’s just off his head. He’s totally mad. But the kids, they don’t have any beef. It’s all about the money.
GamesHub: Speaking of beef, how’s the beef between you and Darren Till? It’s been in the newspapers, all over YouTube and everything.
A: If Darren Till could do something and actually win something, instead of getting fu**ing knocked out or pissing around with ex-UFC fighters that can’t box, like Luke Rockhold who he beat in his last fight.. If he could actually do something and fight someone with credibility, his name might actually mean something. People might be interested, but at the minute it’s like a non entity. It’s not a big fight. To get me out of retirement. I need f**king paying. Do you know what I mean? Because I’m in a good spot. I don’t need to be getting in the ring boxing, throwing punches, giving someone a chance to punch me in the nose. I don’t need it. I’ve done it. I’ve been retired now for 11 and a half years. Why the f*ck would I wanna get back in the boxing room and get punched in the face. It’s horrible. It’s a horrible sport. You’ve got to love it. You’ve got to want it. You’ve got to be up training every day. You got to be in the gym, breathing it, eating it, sleep in it, f**king dreaming it. You can’t just step into the ring, even with Darren Till, I think I’d beat Darren Till, I think if I could be arsed and did a six-eight week camp, I’d get in there and I’d run rings around him. I’d jab him, walk him onto a shot. Because he’s not a professional boxer. I’m sure in the cage he’d f**king bend me in half and snap me in half. Because that’s his sport. But I think I’d do him in a cage as well actually, but can I be bothered to put myself in a hard camp to jump in with Darren Till? No, I can’t. because he’s not a big enough name.
I know Jake Paul’s gone because AJ’s going to potentially end his life. So that’s the end of Jake Paul. So I think my days in the boxing ring are finished. Which isn’t a bad thing. No one wants to see me fight again, do they?
