Eddie Hearn has been at the top of the boxing world for a long time, so not a lot shocks the man.
Since taking over the reins from his father Barry, Eddie Hearn has gone on to be a major figure in the boxing world, promoting the likes of Katie Taylor and Anthony Joshua.
However, there have been controversies, including Hearn and Chris Eubank Jr’s clashes before the latter’s fight with Conor Benn.
Despite this, it is hard to shock the promoter, which makes his admission about a former world champion all the more astonishing.
Eddie Hearn was shocked Carl Froch turned down ‘massive fight’ before retiring
Carl Froch’s 2015 retirement surprised the boxing world as the Englishman was fresh off the back of a huge win against George Groves at Wembley.
The super-middleweight’s decision to retire would leave Hearn stunned, with a huge fight against Julio César Chávez Jr reportedly on the table for Froch before hanging up his gloves.
Speaking with The Stomping Ground, Hearn spoke about his shock at Froch turning down the seven-figure fight.
“This was Carl’s dream. To fight in Vegas in a massive fight like that. And Chávez was absolutely the perfect opponent.
“Froch retired so unexpectedly for me. I remember it as clear as day. I was standing on a beach, and we’d been offered, I can’t remember exactly, maybe £5 million or £6 million to fight Julio César Chávez Jr. in Vegas.
“I was so excited about this fight for him, but he’s got to pretend he’s not excited. So I spoke to him and said, ‘Carl, you’re not going to believe this. We’ve had an offer to do the Chávez fight in Vegas, and it’s £5 million or £6 million, whatever it was.’
“And he just went, ‘Eh, the money’s not great, is it?’ I’m thinking, firstly, that’s their first offer, and secondly—yes, it is good! I know you made more for the Groves fight, but this is such an incredible opportunity.
“And then he just went, ‘Do you know what? My elbow’s playing up a bit…’ And I just thought, that’s Carl being Carl, trying to get more money. But then he actually retired—I couldn’t believe it.”
Since parting ways with boxing and Matchroom, Froch and Hearn have clashed on a number of occasions, particularly surrounding the performances of Anthony Joshua.
Froch almost came out of retirement to fight Joe Calzaghe in 2024
While he was happy to turn down a huge sum of money to keep fighting, 2024 almost saw Froch return to the ring against Joe Calzaghe. This was after Froch rejected a return fight against former UFC star Darren Till.
Turki Alalshikh revealed on Froch on Fighting that he offered Calzaghe a chance to fight Froch, but that the Welshman turned down a huge sum after initially accepting the fight.
“Last year, I gave him an offer to fight, and he accepted. But the next day, he changed his mind.
“It was a good offer—I tried to convince him, but this is not an exhibition.”
Calzaghe has remained retired and seems happy with his 46-0 record in the ring.