JOE Calzaghe has reignited his bitter feud with British rival boxer Carl Froch, claiming the Cobra “is the ultimate hypocrite,” who “ducked,” the chance to fight his Welsh rival.

The pair famously never clashed in their careers, despite Froch calling out Calzaghe time and time again, largely at the latter end of Joe’s career but also long after the pride of Newbridge retired from the sport undefeated.

The duo spent several years trading barbs before seemingly patching up their differences, Calzaghe resentful of Froch saying he “ducked him,” when in reality Froch wasn’t considered a viable option (in terms of the size of the fight) when Calzaghe was an active boxer. He retired in 2009.

And after Froch gave a less than gracious assessment of James DeGale, who made history on Saturday night in Boston by becoming the first British boxer to win Olympic gold and a professional world title, Calzaghe reacted.

“Congratulations to James DeGale, I think he’d whoop Froch! Predictions?” he wrote on Twitter.

Despite not mentioning Froch with his Twitter handle, the Cobra quickly responded.

“You didn’t fancy the job,” he fired back.

Calzaghe retorted by stating: “Lucky for you I fought the best Mikkel Kessler at his peak! Remember then, you couldn’t fill a phone box.”

And in an exclusive interview with Argus Sport, Calzaghe hits out at Froch, claiming that not only did the Nottingham fighter duck him, a huge never before revealed secret, but that if they had fought, Froch wouldn’t have gone on to enjoy the career he has.

“I thought it was typical petty behaviour from Carl, he couldn’t give DeGale the credit he deserved,” he said.

“He’s a hypocrite. He’s straight back to saying I ducked him, but that’s a nonsense. He was nobody when I was at the end of my career.

“DeGale on the other hand, is a world champion and that’d do great tickets. But Froch is already diminishing his achievement and is on record as saying he doesn’t want to fight James, that he wouldn’t be motivated to face him. And he can’t see the hypocrisy.”

Calzaghe went even further, insisting: “If anyone asked Frank Warren (Calzaghe’s former promoter) he’d tell you the same thing. We never ducked Carl, Carl ducked us. I’ve never made it public before, but he rejected the chance to face me, once upon a time.”

Calzaghe also believes Froch’s record shows his limitations.

“Who has Carl ever beaten, who was the absolute man of their division? Not a single guy he’s beaten,” he said.

“He beat Kessler long after his peak and dined out on it for ages.

“But the only time he’s faced the best is Andre Ward. I know Andre, he’s become a friend of mine and he told me he had a shoulder injury for that fight. But he still beat Carl.

“Carl has won some good tear-ups, but he’s never beaten the absolute best of the best.

“If he wants to define his legacy, he should be looking at trying to beat Ward, Sergey Kovalev or Gennedy Golovkin in America. The equivalent of when I beat Bernard Hopkins.”

And Calzaghe, if you’ll excuse the pun, pulled no punches in opining exactly what would have happened had he ever faced Froch.

“I’d have beaten him up badly, because his defence isn’t good enough,” he said.

“And after I beat him badly, he wouldn’t have gone on to have the career he’s had. Carl should be thankful we never fought as it has done him a massive favour. I think most people would understand that.”