Former world champion Carl Froch retires from boxing

Down on two of the scorecards and recovering from a third-round knockdown, Froch knew he needed a knock-out to defeat Taylor to retain his WBC super-middleweight title.

The 38-year old said that he has nothing left to prove and his legacy speaks for itself.

His last bout came in May 2014 when he defended his WBA and IBF titles against George Groves, knocking out the challenger in front of 80,000 people in one of the year’s iconic sporting moments.

An elbow injury forced Froch out of a planned March 28 fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Las Vegas.

He says although he is not retiring undefeated “that’s better because I’ve boxed everybody – I’ve faced every challenge”.

“I’m incredibly proud of what I have achieved in boxing but now is the right moment to hang up my gloves”, added Froch, who will now become a boxing pundit on television.

“I’ve got two wonderful children, very young, and being at home spending time with them is good – and I think, ‘Am I still this fighting machine?'”.

Froch struggled for recognition in his early world title days as many of his fights were on fringe TV channels.

Relive the famous handshake between Carl Froch and George Groves in the build-up to their rematch at Wembley.

“I think he’ll be remembered for a few things: one was for the controversy in our first fight where some people feel it was the wrong decision, obviously him beating me at Wembley, and finally him explaining it to Floyd Mayweather”.

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has paid tribute to Carl Froch by claiming that the four-time world champion “gave everything” when he stepped into the ring. It’s quite a nice thought if I’m totally honest.

But that is not why fans loved to watch him fight.

“We don’t need to be friends of course: I’ve got friends. He should go down as one of Britain’s all-time best fighters”.