Bernard Hopkins believes Carl Froch has tried to back out of a possible fight

Bernard Hopkins insists Carl Froch is looking for the 'easy way out' after he played down reports of a possible fight with the American ring legend.

The 37-year-old Nottingham man has been considering his future options after an elbow problem forced him to put off a proposed Las Vegas clash with Julio Chavez Jr.

Any lingering hopes of a domestic clash with James DeGale were also ended by this injury setback, with Froch agreeing to vacate his IBF belt last week, but reports that Hopkins could emerge as a new opponent have received a mixed response from ‘The Cobra.’

Somebody got in his ear and said: ‘don’t underestimate Bernard, because Bernard is always good at redeeming himself after a loss and coming back strong.'

While Froch holds the 50-year-old in high regard, he described a fight against boxing’s oldest ever champion as a ‘lose-lose situation’, which drew a stinging verbal attack by ‘B-Hop’.

“He says it’s a lose-lose situation, but he’s in a lose-lose situation if he fights somebody that we know he can beat,” Hopkins told boxingscene.com.

“I don’t think anybody, at least I think, is picking Chavez to beat Carl Froch. Carl Froch is looking for an easy way out.

“Somebody got in his ear and said: ‘don’t underestimate Bernard, because Bernard is always good at redeeming himself after a loss and coming back strong. I’m going to be dead serious - I called his bluff.”

Hopkins has hinted he will step down a weight division after losing his WBA and IBF light-heavyweight titles in a points loss to Sergey Kovalev.

The former undisputed middleweight champion has defeated a string of big names during his glittering career and is confident he could add Froch to the list.

Hopkins said: “How could he ruin his legacy losing to a Bernard Hopkins? So that means Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad and all these guys ruined their legacy? The media would kill the fight if it didn’t have no merit to it. That is so weak.”