Boxing legend Carl Froch has revealed what happens when drunk people square up to him in bars. The former super-middleweight world champion says he has "ironed a few ****heads out" over the years.
The Nottingham-born fighter says he is now more used to fans coming up and asking for selfies. But earlier in his career, drinkers had taken it too far, and tried their luck in a fight when he'd been on the jars.
The story has come to light after Froch discussed it in his 2021 podcast Froch on Fighting. According to Talksport, he said: "Some people are stupid and they’re just bullies and they think, ‘If I can knock out a pro boxer or beat a pro boxer, it gives me a bit of street cred.’
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“To be honest I never went out looking for trouble and I never really mixed in troublesome environments, but I grew up in pubs from the age of about 14/15, so I was fighting quite a lot in pubs. What I’d do with people, I’d always give them a chance to walk away, and I’d always say, ‘Look mate, you’ve had too much to drink, come back tomorrow, we’ll all be friends tomorrow when you wake up sober.’
"Most of the time people would take my advice, but every now and again someone would say, ‘Who are you telling me?’ I was only like 17/18 years old, six-foot and about 11 stone. I was skinny, I didn’t look like much.
“So people would have a go at me, but I’d always wait for them to have a go at me before I did anything. I’d always do a pre-emptive strike, I’d done my security course and you’re not allowed to attack somebody, you’re not allowed to go for somebody.
“But if somebody attacks you, you’re allowed to defend yourself. So I’d always wait for them to make the first move and I’d then hit them with what you call a pre-emptive strike.
"So I threw a few pre-emptive strikes in my time and ironed a few ****heads out. They all deserved it.”
Nowadays though, the 45-year-old says he has calmed down. He added: "A lot of the time when we go out I’ve got big Lee [brother] there. If we’re going to a bar or a club or something, I’ve always got someone with me.
“Someone who’s bigger than me. If people are gonna look at me and think, ‘I’m gonna start with Froch.’ They’ve gotta think, ‘For one, Froch can fight. Two, who’s that big lump with him?’
“So they’ve gotta be really stupid. But I never really get involved in much aggro when I go out.”
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