British boxing stars James DeGale and Carl Froch have never really seen eye-to-eye.

DeGale was the mandatory challenger after Froch won back-to-back fights against George Groves back in 2014, retaining the WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles.

He was calling for a fight then but instead Froch decided to hang up the gloves and call it quits while he was still at the top.

Having reached a similar stage of his career four years later, DeGale has admitted that his old rival made the right decision and thinks he may follow Froch’s example and take the final call.

“I think that’s just the way the sport is. He’s [Froch] done the right thing, didn’t he, really?" DeGale told Boxing News.

"Look at me, I’m coming to the end of my career now. I just vacated my belt because I had to fight this dangerous Venezuelan [Jose Uzcategui], was going to get little money for it, or there’s an opportunity where I can fight in domestic grudge matches and earn very good money.

“What do I do? And that’s what Carl Froch done. He thought why am I going to fight this young and upcoming, hungry fighter when I’ve just knocked out George Groves? I’ve made 10 mill, I’m gone.

“You’ve got to give Carl Froch credit because he went out on top. What a way to go out.”

The two-time super middleweight champion believes he still has a couple of years in him to continue before following in the footsteps of Froch.

“I don’t want to be one of these fighters where boxing retires me. I’m retiring from boxing,” he added.

“I’m not one of these fighters that’s going to be in boxing until I’m getting knocked out by fighters that shouldn’t be knocking me out, no way. I’m 32 years of age, I’ve got a couple of years left. I’m still at my peak now.”

DeGale acknowledged the fact that it was a misjudgement on his part to rush back into the ring after injury which saw him lose his world title to Caleb Truax.

“I rushed to get back in the ring. Last year was all wrong, last year was a bad year for me.”

Despite winning the title back earlier this year, he has decided to vacate it to pursue more lucrative British based rivalries. 

“Benn and Eubank they had those classics and everyone talks about it to this day. That’s what I need.

“They’re the fights I want, the domestic grudge matches, that everyone buys into, that everyone wants to see. They’re the ones."