Carl Froch and Joe Calzaghe have a long-standing rivalry despite never having shared the ring together.
Calzaghe was the first of the two to establish himself on the world scene. The Welshman went on to have 46 fights and win them all, including his last two up at light heavyweight. He was a ruling super-middleweight champion for a decade, which is still a record, though he never managed to collide with Forch.
The Nottingham man had a fine career of his own, winning several super middleweight world titles and retiring on a famous night against George Groves in front of 80, 000 people at Wembley.
Speaking to Sky Sports Boxing, Froch was asked to rank the world’s best super middleweights and, after placing Mikkel Kessler at five, he got on to Calzaghe.
“He’s at number four, one slot below ‘The Cobra’, who comes in at number three. ‘The Cobra’ deserves his number three slot; he’s got to deserve his number three slot, and anybody who wants to debate me, I’m ready and waiting.
“The son of ‘Son of God’ Andre Ward at number two, he has to be because of his results. Roy Jones Jr, what a fighter, he’s number one, as far as I’m concerned, you can’t even argue.”
There has long been plenty of debate about why Froch and Calzaghe never met in the ring, and even more about who would have come out on top. Both men have made it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame so remain legends regardless.