The former world champion claims negotiations progressed before Fury demanded £2.5 million and the talks collapsed
Carl Froch says a proposed fight with John Fury fell apart after Fury demanded £2.5 million to step into the ring. The former unified super middleweight champion claims negotiations advanced before the matchup collapsed, while also suggesting he remains open to a comeback under the right circumstances.
Froch’s latest comments came as he revisited his long-running war of words with John Fury, the 61-year-old father of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. What began as social media exchanges eventually escalated into discussions about a potential bout, with Froch now claiming Fury priced himself out of the fight.
“I’m just about to give that bag an absolute pasting, and Big John Fury, the fighting man, has been piping up, saying he wants two and a half million quid. Can you make this make sense?” Froch said on Froch on Fighting.
“One minute he wants to give the money to charity. He doesn’t want the money, he’s a humble man, he doesn’t need money in life, he lives a simple life. Give it to charity, he said. But now he wants £2.5 million. He’s priced himself out. The big gobsh**e.”
Froch suggested serious negotiations had taken place before the talks fell apart.
“The reason I’m talking about it is I don’t want him popping up on my timeline talking blocks, bringing my name up. He called it on, I’ve said yeah, go on then let’s fight, wasted a load of f**** time negotiating. DAZN offered him the money, and he’s bottled it, and he goes round calling everybody else a shhouse. He’s going to fight f**** no one.”
Although the proposed clash with Fury now appears unlikely, Froch’s willingness to continue discussing comeback opponents indicates retirement has not completely closed the chapter on his fighting career.
The 48-year-old has also traded verbal jabs with former UFC fighter Darren Till in recent months. While Froch has repeatedly insisted he has nothing left to prove following his Hall of Fame career, the ongoing back-and-forth with Fury appears to have reignited his competitive instincts.
Froch retired in 2014 after stopping George Groves before 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium to retain his WBA and IBF super middleweight titles.
Still regarded as one of the sport’s elite super middleweights at the time, he walked away despite the possibility of lucrative bouts against fighters such as Gennadiy Golovkin.