Carl Froch didn't quite point the finger at World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko for pulling out of his fight with controversial contender Tyson Fury this November, but he might as well have.
Taking to his Sky Sports boxing column, the bona fide Hall of Fame super-middleweight wrote,
...I wasn't really over-shocked. We know Klitschko. We know he has pushed fights back, and we also know this will still happen.
But if I am going to play devil's advocate on Klitschko's injury, when he does pull out - and he's done it a few times now - why is it never a visible or provable injury? If he'd ruptured his Achilles and had a scan, fine - but he's got a calf problem, so we will never know.
The calf is a big muscle so rationale says it is a quick healer and the injury will keep him out of action for a month. I am not sure what to make of it all. I think Klitschko was either a bit rattled by Fury's antics or he just thinks 'I don't need this'.
Froch, however, was quick to point out that, if the Ukrainian behemoth really did feign injury, it certainly wasn't birthed by a fear of Fury:
...Klitschko is in a position in his career where he could miss a fight, even retire because he just doesn't need it - especially all the hassle. If Tyson has got on his nerves - and he probably has - maybe he is just unsettling Fury now, showing him who is in control and that he can do what he wants, when he wants.
I do think Fury has got a chance when this fight happens, but I don't think for a minute Klitschko thinks that is the case. The people around him will have told him Tyson isn't a big puncher and can go down if you hit him, so I don't suddenly think Klitschko is worried.
After Fury twice saw a career-defining fight with David Haye fall through, it's certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that Klitschko is playing The Riddler to his opponent's Batman.
Klitschko's representatives have indicated that the rescheduled heavyweight showdown will now take place on November 28th in the Espirit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany.
