Carl Froch and Timothy Bradley caught attention at the recent International Boxing Hall of Fame ceremony held at Turning Stone Resort and Casino over the weekend.
Bradley and Froch raised eyebrows initially when the Class of 2023 was named. However, gradually both seemed to have been given the benefit of the doubt.
Froch took the opportunity, as he does in most situations, to mention his 80,000 at Wembley feat against George Groves a decade ago. Having done it the day before to a muted response, “The Cobra” just had to do it again.
It undoubtedly wouldn’t have been a Carl Froch speech without it.
As for Bradley, the American welterweight looked like a kid in a sweatshop after being given his place. “Desert Storm” knows he got an early leg up with his spot following a run of eye-catching wins between 2009 and 2013.
During his speech, a clearly emotional Bradley had trouble holding back as he described a must-win fight from his earlier days.
“I knew something was up, and she [my wife] said: ‘We only have eleven dollars in our bank account. I spent our last three hundred to get here. You must win. You’ve got to win.
“That day, I vowed that our family would never be broke again,” Bradley stated.
Carl Froch Hall of Fame speech
Hailing from Nottingham in the UK, Froch sought out the last few people who have never heard him boast about his 2014 clash with Groves.
“What I was going to do was I going to get up here and try and wing it like David Brent in The Office. But I realize this is serious business, the International Boxing Hall of Fame,” Froch pointed out.
“My first world title fight against the superb Jean Pascal was in Nottingham. It was in my hometown in front of 8,000 fans.
“I used this line yesterday. I didn’t get a good enough response, so you’d all better listen.
“Eight thousand fans in Nottingham for my first world title fight, now that’s not the punchline, that’s not the big one. And my last fight was in the national stadium, Wembley Stadium, in front of 80,000 fans!”
Half the audience semi-cheered as the other half, who had obviously heard it before, groaned.
Froch then added: “I don’t mention it much!”
“Like I said, I didn’t win them all, but what I never did was quit. Champions, world champions, don’t quit. And quitters don’t get inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.”
Concluding his speech, Froch said: “I’m going to fly back tomorrow. I’m going to step back on English soil, and I’m going to be the proudest man in the West because of this.
“Thank you very much.’
That 80,000 at Wembley boast will never be forgotten if Carl Froch has anything to do with it.
