Carl Froch: Ex-boxer set to become Jason Statham's 'wing man'

Jason Statham competed as a diver in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland

Former world champion Carl Froch says he will not reconsider his decision to retire from boxing, but hopes to build a career in acting instead.

Froch told BBC Radio 5 live's Friday Sports Panel that he is set to play "wing man" to Hollywood actor Jason Statham in a three-part crime series.

The four-time world super-middleweight champion says he is undergoing acting lessons to prepare for the role.

"I'm dipping my toe in the water for a bit of acting," the 38-year-old said.

"I've just been reading the script this morning, so it may come to fruition or it may not.

"It's crime in London, it's all going off and there's terrorists going off, and Jason's tackling it through the Metropolitan Police."

Froch plays down comeback talk

Four-time world super-middleweight champion Froch retired in July 2015, 14 months after his last fight, when he knocked out George Groves at Wembley Stadium to retain the WBA and IBF titles.

Carl Froch beat George Groves in front of a British-record 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in May 2014

Froch's only defeats in his 35-fight professional career over 13 years came against Mikkel Kessler in 2010 and American Andre Ward in 2011, although he beat the Dane in a 2013 rematch.

The Nottingham fighter still believes he could win another world title, but says family commitments and the prospect of 12 weeks of hard training have persuaded him to rule out a comeback.

"I think about a comeback every day, but I am realistic," he told Friday Sports Panel.

"I am 40 years old next year. It is not just the fight, it is the 12-week training camp, the intensity, the dieting, and then being away from my kids."

"But as a retired athlete I still look at the super-middleweight division and think: 'James DeGale - I can beat him. George Groves - I beat him at Wembley in front of 80,000 people.'

Sports stars on the big screen

Froch, who is also set to appear in a Terry Stone film called "Once Upon a Time in London", follows a long tradition of sporting stars who have appeared on the silver screen.

His mini-series co-star Statham, who starred in the action thriller "The Transporter" trilogy, competed for England in the diving competition at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson played a cameo role in the Hollywood film "The Hangover", while Irish former middleweight champion Steve Collins held a minor part in the British action film "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".

Vinnie Jones is set to appear in a 2016 remake of the 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven

Former Manchester United footballer Eric Cantona won critical acclaim for a series of roles in French independent cinema, and in the 2009 Ken Loach film "Looking for Eric", while a number of US sports stars, including wrestler Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, and former American football star OJ Simpson, have appeared in Hollywood films.

Former Wimbledon and Leeds United footballer Vinnie Jones is arguably the most successful sportsman-turned-actor that Britain has produced.

Jones, 51, made his big-screen debut in "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in 1998, then starred in the 2001 film "Mean Machine", the British remake of the Burt Reynolds movie "The Longest Yard".

Jones also starred alongside action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2013 thriller "Escape Plan".