Carl Froch camp in talks over possible Gennady Golovkin bout says Eddie Hearn

Eddie Hearn has confirmed tentative talks regarding a possible bout between Carl Froch and Gennady Golovkin have begun, although he remains eager to stress the former could yet retire without stepping into the ring again.

"The Cobra" has not fought since his second victory over George Groves at Wembley in May 2014 and was stripped of his WBA super-middleweight title earlier in May due to that long period of inactivity.

He was originally scheduled to meet Julio Chavez Jr this March but for an unfortunate elbow injury that scuppered the chance of a first career contest in Las Vegas for Froch and a fourth overall in the United States.

The 37-year-old, who boasts 33 wins from 35 professional fights, was then mandated to open negotiations over a potential second shot at unbeaten American Andre Ward, yet such an agreement is yet to come to pass after the two camps appeared to differ greatly over where it should be held.

The prospect of a match-up against fearsome puncher Golovkin is one that has been raised before. The notoriously tough Kazakh is arguably the most exciting boxer currently active in the sport and recently extended his formidable record to 33-0 with a sixth-round stoppage of Willie Monroe Jr in California.

While Golovkin would certainly provide an extremely tough test for Froch, it appears talks are ongoing but it remains to be seen if it will be enough to prevent the four-time world champion from hanging up his gloves.

"I've seen reports regarding a potential fight with Carl and GGG. It's a huge fight and we are certainly talking," Hearn told Sky Sports. "At some stage that fight becomes too big to ignore but at this stage we still don't know if Carl will fight again.

"You know Carl will fight anyone and if it's a fight he can get up for and it does happen then it will be a huge event. I can't rule it out but I also can't rule out Carl retiring."

Golovkin, a 2004 Olympic silver medallist, has fought a British opponent before. In February, he produced a typically dominant performance to defeat the brave Martin Murray inside 11 rounds in Monte Carlo.