DeGale: Froch should retire, I'd absolutely batter him

James DeGale has a stiff test in front of him when he faces Andre Dirrell this weekend in Boston for the IBF title. The fight will be shown on NBC as part of Al Haymon's PBC series. But Dirrell aside, James DeGale thinks fellow countryman and super middleweight, Carl Froch, should retire instead of pursing a potential title fight with him.

"I think Froch is finished and he should retire," DeGale told ESPN. "He's getting on, earned a lot of money. He needs to relax, chill and retire. I expect him to retire.

"There's no point in him coming to me, I would absolutely batter him. He would not win a round off me. He's tough and durable but deep down he knows there's a slim chance for him."

He won't win a round huh?! Talk about supreme confidence...But as it so happens, Eddie Hearn, who promotes both Froch and DeGale, believes that it's likely that Froch will end up announcing his retirement soon instead of pressing on for one more big fight.

"Can you still be the same fighter when you have all that money in the bank, lovely family, two kids and another one on the way, lovely house? DeGale-Froch could become a Wembley fight but he might turn around and say he's a good fighter, I don't need it."

Hearn went on to say it would be better for Froch to go ahead and retire rather than get retired. For those fairly close to Froch, they think he's gotten a bit long in the tooth, with little added motivation to train at this elite level. If that's indeed the case, Froch should certainly just call it quits. Eddie also says that Carl Froch hasn't reached out to him about fighting anyone since the Groves fight last year, and that it's actually been him bringing up the potential bouts against Chavez Jr., Hopkins, and Golovkin to Froch.

"I love the Golovkin fight but unless HBO come up with a pot full of money, that fight with Golovkin won't happen because he won't do it for a laugh ... a fight with Golovkin is not a laugh," said Hearn.

And so it's appearing evermore likely that the Cobra has stuck for the final time. As for DeGale, he believes he's in a position somewhat analogous to Guillermo Rigondeaux, where he's too good (combined with too little name value) to get many opportunities for big fights - thus he has to take advantage now while he's on the big American stage. And as DeGale puts it, "Winning over in America will make all the difference..."