Andre Ward joined a large portion of the boxing fraternity, shutting down Carl Froch for his stunning comments on George Groves.
As his former opponent retired with dignity, Froch took it upon himself to put out a ‘tribute’ to Groves within hours of the announcement.
Although with some nice touches here and there, Froch largely panned ‘The Saint’ in his summary of Groves’ career.
“I won’t miss him, and I am not sure that British boxing will miss him, these days at least. There was nothing left out there for him,” Froch told Sky Sports.
“He lost to Callum Smith, who is now top of the super-middleweight world, and it wasn’t like it was a close or controversial defeat. He was conclusively beaten, and there was never going to be a rematch.
“Smith is now in the new super-middleweight scene, where the champions are big, strong, young, and fresh.
“I can’t see there being anything out there for Groves to bother with. Yes, he could wait around and fight the winner of James DeGale and Chris Eubank Jr, but what is the point?
“He’s just beaten Eubank Jr, and the first fight with DeGale was so long ago, I am not sure even George could get up for that,” he added.
Ward, who comprehensively defeated Froch in their Showtime tournament final meeting, gave ‘The Cobra’ both barrels for what was obviously a salty opinion.
“This dude is the biggest hater. You’re over 40 bros, let it go,” insisted Ward. “The arrogance is off the charts!”
Froch came back with his own reply, ‘can you remind me why you retired again?’ – Although Ward got thousands of more likes when standing up for Groves.
An attempt for damage limitation was soon followed by Froch, who said: “If you’ve never boxed, you will never understand the profound respect between two fighters even if they don’t like each other.
“@StGeorgeGroves, I wish you a healthy & happy retirement. You were a solid world champion, and you did yourself and your family very proud. Take care, champ!”
But many more fans sided with Ward.
WBN waited 24 hours before posting anything other than an appraisal of Groves’ entertaining efforts.
Maybe Carl Froch could have taken a leaf out of that book for himself.
