Carl Froch 'may not fight again' says Eddie Hearn as champion is stripped of WBA title

Froch may return to fight Andre Ward, who beat him in 2011

Boxer

Carl Froch may never fight again after he was stripped of his WBA super-middleweight title, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.

The WBA championships committee has withdrawn its recognition of Froch due to his year-long inactivity that was caused in part by the collapse of a Las Vegas showdown with Julio Cesar Chavez Junior because of an elbow injury.

Froch had already vacated his IBF title and his eighth-round stoppage of George Groves at Wembley Stadium 12 months ago may have been his last outing.

"We have no problem with the decision from the WBA. Carl has been out of the ring for nearly a year now and there is certainly no guarantee that he will fight again," Hearn told Sky Sports.

"They need to keep their belts active and that's not possible with Carl's current position. It's likely we will make a further announcement regarding Carl's future over the next week or so."

A rematch with WBA super champion Andre Ward remains a possibility for Froch, however, once the outstanding American negotiates British challenger Paul Smith in Oakland in June.

The WBA has stated that Froch will be the mandatory challenger to Ward after his non-title fight against Smith.

Fedor Chudinov and Felix Sturm will clash in Frankfurt on Saturday to decide the new WBA super-middleweight champion.

PA