Exclusive – Wembley defeat would be end of the road for Froch, admits Haye

David Haye admits he expects Carl Froch to retire if he loses to George Groves this weekend.

The pair will meet again in a British super-fight at Wembley on Saturday night in front of 80,000 fans, six months after Froch stopped Groves in controversial fashion.

Both men are, predictably, talking a good fight ahead of the contest and Haye is as excited about the bout as anyone.

He knows both men very well - he confesses he will be like a mother watching her two sons in the ring! - and he insists it’s a genuine 50-50 fight. But he does believe that, if the evening goes wrong for Froch, he might hang up his gloves.

Haye told Hawksbee & Jacobs: “If Carl doesn’t win, yes, I think he might retire because I don’t think he’ll have anything left to prove. I wouldn’t want to see him retire, but if he loses conclusively he will still have achieved all of his goals.

“He’s won numerous world titles, he’s fought the best out there, and if he loses it’s fair to say he’s had his time and it’s time for the new kid on the block - and that’s George Groves.”

Not that Haye will be betting any of his hard-earned cash on the outcome.

“There is a reason 80,000 tickets have been sold,” he added. “This is a real 50-50 fight. Any gaps in the Froch defences [from the first fight], he will have plugged.

“But Groves knows he can hurt him, and he’s got the superior skills and hand speed, so he’ll want to keep it at long distance and turn into a boxing match, because when he stood and traded in the later rounds [in the first fight], that’s when the 50-50 rounds went Froch’s way.

“Froch will want to have a tear up and get into a fight straight away, while Groves will try to stay away from having a fight.

“I know Groves has said he’ll knock Froch out in three rounds but I take no notice of that. They are just mind games and [in the past] I’ve been the one making those statements!”