Carl Froch has claimed that he "set a precedent" for Anthony Joshua's heavyweight success after his high-profile fights with George Groves.
Froch fought in one of the most iconic British rivalries of recent times taking on Groves twice, with the second event in 2014 seeing him pick up a stoppage in front of 80,000 at Wembley Stadium. Heavyweight star Joshua fought on the bill and began selling out stadiums of his own during his meteoric rise to the top which saw him become two-time world heavyweight champion.
Throughout his tenure in the blue-ribbon division, Joshua has attracted some of boxing's biggest crowds on domestic shores including 90,000 for his victory over boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko back in 2017. And Froch believes himself and promoter Eddie Hearn began an era in which fighters could earn more lucratively for their fighting exploits in the UK.
“That fight with George Groves at Wembley set a precedent for fights moving forward,” he said when discussing Joshua's rise in an interview with William Hill. “Me and Eddie Hearn were good for each other – he was good for me because he got me back on Sky Sports, and I brought pay-per-view back. That fight with George Groves was the catalyst for what Eddie Hearn has done today, and he’ll tell you exactly the same. He worked hard and did his part, I did the fights and the winning, and beat Groves in that rematch.
“But the Anthony Joshua thing, without that Groves fight, would that have happened? Would he have had those Wembley fights? People know now that they can go to Wembley and sell it out for a boxing match. You’ve got someone like AJ fighting Wladimir Klitschko for the world title, it’s not going to be anywhere else other than Wembley Stadium.
“So that Groves fight was definitely the catalyst for what Eddie Hearn did with Matchroom. If you’re a fighter now and you’re world champion, you’ve got an opportunity to earn some really good money, and that’s largely due to Eddie Hearn, and myself – I take credit for that and Eddie Hearn will probably acknowledge that as well.”
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Joshua produced a remarkable display against Klitschko to arguably match the legacy of Froch's performance at Wembley against Groves, which went on to spark several more stadium fights including at Cardiff's Principality Stadium and most recently against Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
'AJ' has earned mega money from his career to date and has recently signed a new long-term deal with streaming service DAZN having announced his departure from Sky Sports.
The pinnacle fight of British boxing between Joshua and rival Tyson Fury looked close to completion earlier this year, but it now appears as if Joshua could instead face Dillian Whyte next after the showdown with the 'Gypsy King' collapsed again.
