James DeGale has urged domestic rival Carl Froch to retire as he believes that he would ‘absolutely batter’ him if they ever met in the ring.
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DeGale is currently Stateside putting the finishing touches to his training camp ahead of his IBF super-middleweight title fight against Andre Dirrell in Boston on Saturday.
The pair will meet for the belt that Froch vacated earlier this year, after the ‘Cobra’ opted against defending it against his mandatory challenger in DeGale.
While the Londoner was initially frustrated by missing out on a domestic showdown, he is now determined to make history by becoming the first British Olympic gold medallist to go on and win a world title as a professional.
However, he had a few choice words for his fellow Brit and has insisted that retiring would be his best option at this stage of his career.
“I think Froch is finished and he should retire,” DeGale told ESPN. “He’s getting on, earned a lot of money. He needs to relax, chill and retire. I expect him to retire.
“There’s no point in him coming to me, I would absolutely batter him. He would not win a round off me. He’s tough and durable but deep down he knows there’s a slim chance for him.”
According to promoter and friend Eddie Hearn, Froch is likely to call time on his career given that there are no fights available for him which would motivate him to go through another gruelling training camp.
A DeGale-Froch showdown would arguably be a Wembley fight, but the IBF title challenger has his sights set on other opponents in the division including long-time rival, George Groves.
“The Groves rematch is a fight I would like. I’ve just got to win this world title then I can start calling out the shots. A lot of people talk about Groves and Froch, but I want to fight the best. I want to fight Andre Ward, Arthur Abraham, Gilberto Ramirez and Gennady Golovkin if he moves up because he’s a beast.
“Winning over in America will make all the difference to me.”
‘Chunky’ has a great opportunity to become a world champion on Saturday, but he will be fully aware of the threat posed by Dirrell and will not be looking beyond his next fight as he looks to realise a childhood dream.
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