Friday 13 February 2015 07:44, UK
Bernard Hopkins has branded Carl Froch a "coward" and challenged the Nottingham man to pick his own venue for a possible world title showdown.
The American ring legend has launched a scathing attack on Froch after the WBA super-middleweight champion suggested he did not want to risk his reputation in a fight with Hopkins.
An elbow injury forced 'The Cobra' to put off plans for a Las Vegas clash against Julio Chavez Jr and the 37-year-old described an alternative fight against Hopkins as a 'lose-lose situation', sparking a fiery response from the former undisputed middleweight champion.
You should put all the pressure on that coward that calls himself one of the greatest European fighters of all time.
"You should put all the pressure on that coward that calls himself one of the greatest European fighters of all time," Hopkins exclusively told Sky Sports.
"That is not true, that’s an insult to Joe Calzaghe, and let me tell you something - that's an insult to any great fighter that has come out of the UK from the past and the present.
"To hear a guy make excuses for a legitimate force that he knows he will lose against and possibly lose his career, like many other fighters did when they stepped in the ring with 'The Alien'."
Froch has expressed a desire to fight in Las Vegas and his hometown before he eventually retires and Hopkins is happy to do either, dismissing any doubts about his willingness to fight the champion on these shores.
He said: "If he wants to fight before he retires as he was quoted: 'I want to fight in Vegas'.
"Well, I haven’t fought in Vegas in multiple years. We can do it in Vegas, let's get our people together and talk. Or we can fight in the UK. He thought that was going to be something that was going to be a snag.
"Where a square ring is at, is my home. I've been all over fighting. I've never ducked where I fight."
