Carl Froch
Froch has called time on his 13-year professional career earlier this year but is open to a return in 2016  Getty

Carl Froch has announced he could consider a return to the ring in 2016 to reclaim his IBF super-middleweight title from James DeGale. Froch announced his decision to hang up his gloves in July after a glittering career having won 33 of his 35 professional bouts, 24 of those coming via knockout.

His last bout came in May 2014 when he defended his WBA and IBF titles against George Groves, knocking out the challenger in front of 80,000 people in one of the year's iconic sporting moments. But the 38-year-old has he is still in training every day and admits the temptation to return for one more showdown is still there.

"I always said, 'Once I've retired, I won't come back,' but just lately now, 18 months on from my last fight, I'm starting to think to myself, 'You know what? I'm fit, I'm strong, I'm in good shape,'" Froch told Press Association Sport.

"There's nobody at my weight where I'm thinking 'I'm worried about him', not even Andre Ward. If I did fancy it, I'm thinking spring next year, get Christmas out of the way. I'm training every day. I'm not doing much punching but my fitness is up.

"If I was going to fight again, and it's a big if, I'd be ready for next year. Another slice of the action, another snippet in the limelight, a massive fight, all the attention on me – I'm not an attention-seeker but it's just relighting that old flame."

DeGale, who won the IBF title vacated by Froch when he beat Andre Dirrell in May, was keen to fight the Cobra before his retirement but a bout with the 29-year-old Londoner did not make "financial or business sense" for Froch. However, the Nottingham-born fighter has reopened the door for a meeting with the Olympic gold medallist, although he insists any fight would have to come before the end of 2016.

Froch said: "I'm not missing it. I'm not saying I'm going to come back and fight again but, if I was going to, it'd have to be next year or the door's definitely shut. I did always say, 'Never say never,' and there comes a point when I can and that's the end of next year.

"It'd be a one-fight comeback. I'd beat DeGale, it's an easy job for me, and he's world champion. Come back, get my old belt back, show them all how it's done and then retire. There'd be something satisfying about that."

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