Froch reluctant to give Groves a rematch

By Boxing News - 12/26/2013 - Comments

froch777By Scott Gilfoid: Once again IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (32-2, 23 KO’s) says he doesn’t see the point in giving George Groves (19-1, 15 KO’s) a rematch to clear up the controversy of their fight last month on November 23rd at the Phones 4U Arena in Manchester, UK.

In Froch’s mind, the referee Howard John Foster did the right thing in jumping in between the two fighters and halting the fight in the 9th round. Froch thinks Groves was badly hurt and about to be legitimately stopped by him if not for Foster halting the fight.

Froch thinks that one of the reasons why Groves wants a rematch is due to the big payday he’d get to fight him again, and Froch doesn’t want to give him that payday because he feels he’s not been respectful of him. Groves says he had to be that way to sell the fight, but Froch doesn’t seem to realize that and he’s using that as one of his excuses for not giving him s rematch.

“I beat him fair and square,” Froch said via Sky Sports. “The referee stopped the contest and there is no arguing about the fact he was down and out. Did Groves hand James DeGale a rematch when they fought a few years ago in a close one? I’m very reluctant to hand Groves a pay-day, especially when he behaves like an idiot all the time. I’m the champion and that means I call the shots.”

I don’t think Froch understands the huge amount of fans who felt that his win over Groves wasn’t legitimate due to the referee Foster jumping in prematurely. Froch can ignore that, but it would be stupid for him do to that because he’ll be shooting himself in the foot. If Froch is really concerned with his legacy, then he’s going to need to give Groves a rematch.

This isn’t like when Froch beat American Andre Dirrell four years ago and he had the backing of his countryman to let him move on after his highly controversial decision win. Froch’s fellow Brits think Groves gave him a pounding and was then ripped off when the referee chose to step in during the heat of the action and give Froch a 9th round stoppage victory. I mean, if Froch is cool with having his own British fans thinking that he shouldn’t have been given the victory over Groves, then that’s on him.

Froch can move on, but he’s going to have to live with it. Froch can’t go backwards once he’s made his decision to ignore Groves and finish his career against the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Gennady Golovkin or Andre Ward, if he can get any of those guys to fight him. If Froch changes his mind in a year or two, he might be too old at that point to compete with Groves by next year.

I think Groves will definitely whip Froch in the rematch because Groves only has to fix two parts of his game where he’s in close, and when he’s pulling away from a clinch. Those are the areas where Froch was able to take advantage of Groves. But once Groves how to pull away from a clinch and keep Froch from nailing rabbit shots in the clinch, Groves easily beats Froch in a rematch.

I can see why Froch wouldn’t want to tangle with Groves again. That was a really tough fight for him, and if Groves had continued to fight like he had in the first 7 rounds, Froch would have lost the fight. He can’t count on a referee stepping in early in a rematch to halt the fight like he did last time. I doubt that a referee would make that mistake a second time because it just makes them look so bad in the eyes of the fans.



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