Quotes of the Year 2014: From January to June with Froch v Groves at the forefront

It's been another busy year in the world of boxing, where bitterness, boastfulness and banter reigned supreme.

Yes, the viral social media scene often sees Twitter take centre stage but there are few fighters who can get it all out in 140 characters - or 140 sentences in some cases! So we have selected some quotes that dominated proceedings over the last 12 months.

We start with January to June, which saw Carl Froch and George Groves grip the nation and gripe at each other, Amir Khan continue to chase the Money, and Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly resume hostilities.

And boxing wouldn't be boxing without a bout of verbal sparring from the heavyweights ..
 

January

"I don't think you'll find many happier retired fighters than myself and I look forward to the future now."
The year started without a hip-hip hooray for some of us as former middleweight world champion Darren Barker called it a day.

"It's a major year, getting to gauge my progress from January to December. I'm going to be competing around eight to 10 times this year."
Anthony Joshua was one fight out but did he think he would KO all seven opponents? We did. And he did just that.

It'll be my last fight, win, lose or draw, and I aim to go out as champion.

"I don't know .. maybe his computer is broken or his phone is broken?"
Carl Frampton was not a world champion back then but wanted Scott Quigg's promoter Eddie Hearn to get in touch.

"I don't believe for one minute he is going to move up to cruiserweight."
Anything I can do, he can do too? Tony Bellew had little time or patience for his dear old friend Nathan Cleverly's plan.

"It's the fight that the fans and the public demand, that the television networks want and it's the fight that the media in general wants."
Did George Groves get a crystal ball for Christmas - as well as a Rubik's cube?

"I'm bored of listening to his whingeing and moaning and cursing. You'll find out I do actually call the shots."
Carl Froch made it quite clear what he thought about his new friend, who was about to be become the IBF super-middleweight challenger. Again.

February

"I'm going to let the fans vote. Tell me who I should fight next. Khan or Maidana?"
A tweet from Floyd Mayweather, who bowed to public demand and let them choose his next opponent. Or said he would…

"Very disrespected by his team. Wasted my time. Good luck to Maidana, against Mayweather."
A supposed 60 per cent swing in his favour didn't win Amir Khan the prize.

Do I think Groves deserved the rematch? Probably - the way it ended, yes, but did he deserve the fight in the first place? Probably not.

"You talk to 10 doctors, 50 per cent say you can make a recovery and 50 per cent say, 'no you're done, you'll never be able to throw a punch again otherwise your arm will fall out of its socket'."
The nasty injury that saw David Haye ruled out of his re-scheduled showdown with Tyson Fury had the medical world divided by a split-decision

“The British public are behind this, and this was almost the only fight out there for me to reasonably take. I've given the British public what they wanted for years and years and I won't stop doing it now."
After six weeks of much-publicised debate, Froch-Groves II was on at last.

"It has been my dream to fight in the big room at Madison Square Garden, a place where many great fighters have showcased their talents."
Middleweight maestro Sergio Martinez got his dream date but would Miguel Cotto turn it into a nightmare?

"The fans won't like it, but I am fine, I don't care, what can they do apart from yell and scream?"
Terence Crawford was over to take on Ricky Burns and clearly had never been out for a night in Glasgow before!

March

"Well this is it... everything for a reason."
It was the first time we'd heard George Groves' mantra - and it wouldn't be the last.

"A few big fights can be made for me, home and abroad, let's see what comes up. Nothing lined up yet but there are exciting options."
Retirement's a funny ol' game … at least where ex-footballers are concerned. Curtis Woodhouse was back in the game to defend his British light-welterweight title.

It will be behind closed doors, it won't be sold to the media. There won't be any judges there.

"I'm not done yet. That's where I draw my motivation, my inspiration. I'm trying to make history - write another book on me."
The first one was chiselled out of stone, right? The Executioner may have gone but The Alien, Bernard Hopkins, fought on in his 50th year...

"He just said to me: 'God bless you'. I think he's trying to tell me I'm going to need it."
Tony Bellew sought divine intervention ahead of his cruiserweight debut against Valery Brudov.

"I was watching at home and was actually laughing at the TV."
Nathan Cleverly was not following the religious theme, glued to the Vicar of Dibley; he had more fun watching Bellew-Brudov.

"I don't want to speak on Adonis Stevenson."
But he just had. Sergey Kovalov and you-know-who were supposed to be on collision course. The war of words was - and still is - way off.

"It is by no fluke that I became a world champion in three different weight divisions because he always told me from the day I first laced up my gloves, that I would make a better bantamweight than I would a flyweight."
An emotional Duke McKenzie bid farewell to the one and only Mickey Duff, who passed away during the month. 

April

"I am different - I have the mentality of a world champion. Do not blink as soon as the first bell rings."
Enzo Maccarinelli's judgement proved oddly correct when a badly-swollen eye saw him struggling to see and stopped in five rounds by Jurgen Braehmer

"I think he may lack fire. His motivation is not there. He's been at the top for a very long time. He has over 60 fights in the ring with all the best."
Timothy Bradley insisted Manny Pacquiao had been too good for too long, yet only managed to get those Filipino fires burning again.

I think it would be a beautiful thing if Groves nicks it and we get a decider

"Leapai will try to beat me with pure violence. Technique and tactics aren't his strengths. I'll demonstrate that I'm the strongest boxer in the world."
Wladimir Klitschko had little time for Alex Leapai before politely sharing four-and-a-bit rounds with him.

"After a performance like that, it's got to be big fights. We want unification fights, Leo Santa Cruz, Kiko Martinez, and obviously there is the Carl Frampton fight."
Scott Quigg had blown away the Atomic Spider - Tshifhiwa Munyai  - in two and was hunting a second world title. Which ruled one of those three out.

"I now have six pins holding my shoulder together, after full reconstructive surgery. Scars have healed, and I'm feeling positive. I've yet to work on the pads with Adam Booth or throw any "Hayemakers", but I don't feel a million miles away!"
David Haye was on the road to recovery so we should see him in the ring again. With the same familiar face in his corner? Well, one out of two isn't bad.

"At the end of the day I went to Japan, fought the best in the world, I never reached my goal but I love the sport and my fans and a big thank you to them."
And thank you to Rendall Munroe, who hung up the gloves after losing to Josh Warrington. Back to the bins ...

May

"I'm very, very comfortable. It’s not really hard for me to get up when I get to the boxing gym, it's just getting to the gym. I go into my garages and think, do I want to drive you, you, you or you?"
Life is hard for Floyd Mayweather. So hard he was contemplating quitting... 

"That's what I call a late birthday gift."
Kubrat Pulev following the news he was to get a crack at Wladimir Klitschko.

You have to give him hell.

"The first fight was a cracker and people want to see the rematch, so it makes sense now. We're building it up nicely..."
Not Carl Froch. Not George Groves. But Nathan Cleverly getting in the mood for a second instalment of his own.

"This is not to take away from anything that they're doing, but that's a domestic fight. It's not here in America, that's not in Vegas, it's not in New York, that's a domestic fight, so there's a difference."
A geographically-correct Andre Ward ignored the facts of an 80,000 Wembley Stadium sell-out and two world titles on the line.

"I got George's number from my brother so I called him because I wanted to tell him that he did really well. He was booed when he went in and everyone was cheering for him afterwards."
Not Froch, but Nigel Benn who like so many, thought the lad from west London could level the score.

"In my view, when you are so sure that you have something sussed is when you've missed a trick. That's the only thing with George for me - he is so sure and you should never be so sure."
Never far from Benn is Chris Eubank, who rarely missed a trick and pretty much gave us the right prediction.

"Unfortunately for George he was on the end of a very heavy right hand from a seasoned champion. But we've both done ourselves proud tonight."
He won, with a devastating knockout and a dignified reaction. Take two, and Carl Froch did everything right.

June

"This is the biggest achievement I ever had in my career." 
Beating Sergio Martinez, becoming a world champion again, at a new weight, at Madison Square Garden? Miguel Cotto summed it up…

"We need a big name who is going to raise eyebrows and prick up some ears for Las Vegas to be a venue for a big stage. So it is probably going to be someone like Chavez Jnr because he is massive in America."
Carl Froch made it clear he wanted to head across the pond to fulfil a dream. Joe Calzaghe did the same, so why not? A decision was promised in 2014 but we're still waiting ..

This decision has required a great deal of personal reflection, but ultimately I concluded that I have no choice but to leave.

"I feel blessed to be here but at the same time I deserve to be here, I deserve my shot. I deserve everything I get."
Brian Rose's dream ended inside seven one-sided rounds against Demetrius Andrade. He did not deserve that, but WBO light-middleweight champion Andrade revealed his true class.

"I was just working hard. I'm very happy and excited to be a world champion.”
Vasyl Lomachenko won a world title in his third professional bout. He obviously didn't work hard enough for his second one, then.

“It's taken me 13 years to get it."
And just to prove there are two sides to every story, Willie Limond proved it is worth waiting for by snatching the British light-welterweight title from Curtis Woodhouse.

"He trains harder than anyone else down the gym, his sparring is better than anyone else, but he is not delivering it in the ring. I don't know what it is."
Eddie Hearn was not alone as former two-weight world champion Ricky Burns was beaten by Dejan Zlaticanin. Sometimes what happens in the gym just stays in the gym. Sadly.

* All quotes have been printed on skysports.com from January 1 to June 30, 2014.