BoxRec

Former super-middleweight champion Carl Froch lauded Wladimir Klitschko for maintaining his legacy unlike Roy Jones Jr. after retiring from boxing at the "right time".

Klitschko decided to call it a career this month at the age of 41, ending talk of a rematch with heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Speaking to Omnisport, Froch said: "I was glad he retired. It was the right decision at the right time. I thought he had a couple fights too many.

"He lost to Tyson Fury and when the AJ match came along I just thought if he takes the camp really seriously and it's at Wembley it's similar to when I retired, he had a bad fight like I had a bad fight with [George] Groves in the first one.

"That motivates you to come back and be your very best. I think he did that and he was at this best and that's why he gave AJ, the younger, I was gonna say bigger and stronger but he's not as equally as big and strong as AJ is clearly but he really did give AJ a tough fight.

"He gave him a torrid time in there and the fight lived up to all the hype. It was a great night at Wembley and I was proud to be part of that.

Klitschko can hold his head up high and say that he pushed Joshua to the limit and I think that was a good exit card for him. Why come back and lose to the same guy that you have already to lose and take more punishment.

"It's not always the fight that is punishing it's the training as well. It's hard on the body at that age. You're taking injections and you're seeing physios and you turn up fight night in 85/90 per cent. In my opinion you get beat in a rematch with AJ and retire with a couple million that you don't need and leave his legacy tarnished.

"Everybody will remember him for the AJ fight in heavyweight boxing. Roy Jones was one of the best boxers that ever lived and he's totally tarnished his legacy after being knocked-out a few times by fighting on too much. It's nice to see Klitschko has retired when he has and he can hold his head up high."

I'm a huge Froch fan, but this is truly stupid commentary. No fighter has ever 'ruined' their legacy.Nobody cares about Ali/Berbick or Leonard/Camacho anymore than they care about Jones/Enzo.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I'm a huge Froch fan, but this is truly stupid commentary. No fighter has ever 'ruined' their legacy.Nobody cares about Ali/Berbick or Leonard/Camacho anymore than they care about Jones/Enzo.

Not sure I agree. Ali and Leonard no, RJJ of now is embarrassing. His continuance after a number crushing KO defeats has made him into a journeyman. He was the best boxer of the 90s but should've quit after the Johnson KO. Toney is another. I'm not sure about ruining their legacy but it is embarrassing.

Loki wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I'm a huge Froch fan, but this is truly stupid commentary. No fighter has ever 'ruined' their legacy.Nobody cares about Ali/Berbick or Leonard/Camacho anymore than they care about Jones/Enzo.

Not sure I agree. Ali and Leonard no, RJJ of now is embarrassing. His continuance after a number crushing KO defeats has made him into a journeyman. He was the best boxer of the 90s but should've quit after the Johnson KO. Toney is another. I'm not sure about ruining their legacy but it is embarrassing.

No more embarrassing than Roberto Duran, Ray Robinson, etc...

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

Loki wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I'm a huge Froch fan, but this is truly stupid commentary. No fighter has ever 'ruined' their legacy.Nobody cares about Ali/Berbick or Leonard/Camacho anymore than they care about Jones/Enzo.

Not sure I agree. Ali and Leonard no, RJJ of now is embarrassing. His continuance after a number crushing KO defeats has made him into a journeyman. He was the best boxer of the 90s but should've quit after the Johnson KO. Toney is another. I'm not sure about ruining their legacy but it is embarrassing.

No more embarrassing than Roberto Duran, Ray Robinson, etc...

I agree. Going out with a great performance at the near top of your game is commendable.

In terms of damaging legacy; it's depends of how good it was to begin with. But, it is embarrassing when an ATG gets beaten at an age when they're well past their prime.

It's like a Grandad seriously attempting breakdancing.

Since Roy is still fighting, or at least recently fought, I think there is now more focus on his decline than there will be as the years pass following his retirement.

Loki wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

Loki wrote:
Not sure I agree. Ali and Leonard no, RJJ of now is embarrassing. His continuance after a number crushing KO defeats has made him into a journeyman. He was the best boxer of the 90s but should've quit after the Johnson KO. Toney is another. I'm not sure about ruining their legacy but it is embarrassing.

No more embarrassing than Roberto Duran, Ray Robinson, etc...

I agree. Going out with a great performance at the near top of your game is commendable.

In terms of damaging legacy; it's depends of how good it was to begin with. But, it is embarrassing when an ATG gets beaten at an age when they're well past their prime.

It's like a Grandad seriously attempting breakdancing.

It's sad, I don't think Jones has done anything as embarrassing as Ali/Berbick or Duran/lawler. I enjoy old man fights. I remember when everyone on here gave me shit for being excited about Morales/maidana.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

Loki wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:
No more embarrassing than Roberto Duran, Ray Robinson, etc...

I agree. Going out with a great performance at the near top of your game is commendable.

In terms of damaging legacy; it's depends of how good it was to begin with. But, it is embarrassing when an ATG gets beaten at an age when they're well past their prime.

It's like a Grandad seriously attempting breakdancing.

It's sad, I don't think Jones has done anything as embarrassing as Ali/Berbick or Duran/lawler. I enjoy old man fights. I remember when everyone on here gave me poo for being excited about Morales/maidana.

Yeah I don't mind seeing old fighters at it as long as they still got enough left to hold their own. Morales against Maidana is a perfect example that was marvelous, and only raised Morales' legacy a little more in my book.

I'm not crazy about seeing guys stick around so long though that they become not even half what they once were though.

Roy Jones these days can barely move around the ring, and only throws one punch at a time, and I've seen quite a few other fighters perform really badly like that. It's all good as long as they're beating up on no hopers or whatever, but I hate seeing guys like this get matched against the top young fighters of today, and get beat up in lopsided fashion.

Older guys are still fun to watch as long as they fall under the banner of "Faded", but it stops being fun when they're "Shot".

Well...ok one exception. A lot of people are CONVINCED that Briggs isn't shot. He totally is. So I might find a bit of amusement out of the fact that Briggs got his ass completely handed to him with ease by somebody ranked like #39 or something, and I could say "I told ya so"

I shouldn't enjoy it, but I kinda would

I should say that I haven't watched Roy in many years. I think Lacy was the last one, I know I didn't watch Calzaghe. I'm more into the old TNF bouts with Duran and Holmes. I remember Barrera's last fight was awesome, watching him unload combos albeit much slower than they used to be. I certainly want Roy to hang them up, but none of this will change his standing in the sport. He's still overrated by many!

And Wlad definitely went out like a G. Totally raised his standing in my eyes.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I should say that I haven't watched Roy in many years. I think Lacy was the last one, I know I didn't watch Calzaghe. I'm more into the old TNF bouts with Duran and Holmes. I remember Barrera's last fight was awesome, watching him unload combos albeit much slower than they used to be. I certainly want Roy to hang them up, but none of this will change his standing in the sport. He's still overrated by many!

And Wlad definitely went out like a G. Totally raised his standing in my eyes.

Jhonny Gonzalez is past his best, and I wouldn't mind seeing him continue to knock out dudes in Mexico for years to come as long as he's capable. I know he's past his best, but he's still got the power in his punches (just knocked out a guy about a week or two ago). I'll enjoy watching him as long as he wants to keep going I think.

I stuck by Jose Luis Castillo's side too. His last few fights he was well beyond his best, but he pulled off a W here and there, and I loved it. I like seeing my favorites who are already in their "He should retire" years pick up some more wins. Or even competitive losses if they come against good fighters i.e. Morales/Maidana, Joshua/Wlad

gilgamesh wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I should say that I haven't watched Roy in many years. I think Lacy was the last one, I know I didn't watch Calzaghe. I'm more into the old TNF bouts with Duran and Holmes. I remember Barrera's last fight was awesome, watching him unload combos albeit much slower than they used to be. I certainly want Roy to hang them up, but none of this will change his standing in the sport. He's still overrated by many!

And Wlad definitely went out like a G. Totally raised his standing in my eyes.

Jhonny Gonzalez is past his best, and I wouldn't mind seeing him continue to knock out dudes in Mexico for years to come as long as he's capable. I know he's past his best, but he's still got the power in his punches (just knocked out a guy about a week or two ago). I'll enjoy watching him as long as he wants to keep going I think.

I stuck by Jose Luis Castillo's side too. His last few fights he was well beyond his best, but he pulled off a W here and there, and I loved it. I like seeing my favorites who are already in their "He should retire" years pick up some more wins.

Yeah, Castillo turned up and beat someone's ass on ESPN while Atlas was screaming he had no business fighting. If this is Froch's way of calling out Roy, I'd probably watch that.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:
Yeah, Castillo turned up and beat someone's ass on ESPN while Atlas was screaming he had no business fighting. If this is Froch's way of calling out Roy, I'd probably watch that.

I'd totally watch it too

gilgamesh wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:
Yeah, Castillo turned up and beat someone's ass on ESPN while Atlas was screaming he had no business fighting. If this is Froch's way of calling out Roy, I'd probably watch that.

I'd totally watch it too

Seriously... Stay retired Carl and please retire Roy. Don't do the old thing, you do the new thing or pass on the torch a la Klitschko.

Wlad enhanced his standing in my eyes. Sports a funny old thing. Hah he won by being sharper on the outside and smothering Joshua on the inside (not saying that would work), and bored to a UD, we would want to see the back of Wlad. Because he displayed massive heart, fought great fight, took the fight to the younger champ, despite defeat, people get to see qualities almost greater than technical or physical. Heart and guts is what many relate to. Seeing a big heavyweight get up after that uppercut and barrage after, that's what dreams are made of!

I agree with those that say Roy could keep fighting for another ten years and while it's a sad sight, people should remember Roy at middleweight and up in the 90s and turn of the century. His prime hasn't become worse

LOL...Froch will soon fade into an irrelevant footnote in boxing history. His MAJOR fistic achievement was filling Wembley with 80,000+ fans.

Classic case of "sour grapes" by loud-mouth Froch.

Guaranteed Froch will not even make it to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. RJJ will be a first ballot HOFer in his first year of eligibility!!

Froch will make the HOF.

Let's be honest what did Roy Jones dirty was all the PEDs he was taking to go up in weight for competition, he's never been the same after doing years of continuous injections

Loki wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I'm a huge Froch fan, but this is truly stupid commentary. No fighter has ever 'ruined' their legacy.Nobody cares about Ali/Berbick or Leonard/Camacho anymore than they care about Jones/Enzo.

Not sure I agree. Ali and Leonard no, RJJ of now is embarrassing. His continuance after a number crushing KO defeats has made him into a journeyman. He was the best boxer of the 90s but should've quit after the Johnson KO. Toney is another. I'm not sure about ruining their legacy but it is embarrassing.

Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran, Shane Mosley, Mike Tyson, etc. have all fought on many years beyond their expiration dates and eventually lost to scrubs. It is not usually the thing they are remembered for.

What's Carl Froch going on about Roy Jones like that for ?
I think Froch is slipping, I heard him commentate at Spence v Brook and scratched my head at some of his comments, is he ok ?