George Groves: A box of contradictions

By Boxing News - 03/14/2014 - Comments

groves45 - CopyBy Dominic Sauboorah: It’s fair to say that the rematch between George Groves and Carl Froch is the biggest fight this year. Their first fight was an epic battle in which George Groves proved that he can mix it with the best in the division and Carl Froch proved again that he can battle back from likely defeat.

The animosity between the two, the controversy surrounding the stoppage and the venue for the fight will inevitably make May 31st one of the best nights in British boxing history. What has baffled me though is the amount of praise Groves has been given. In my opinion George Groves has contradicted himself throughout the build up to the last fight and already in the build up to the rematch and I’m going to show you how.

There’s no doubt Groves performed brilliantly against Froch; however some of the remarks he’s made have made no sense. One example is the fact that he believes he hasn’t been disrespectful towards Froch, which in my eyes suggests delusion because that’s just not true. In the build up to their first fight he was quoted as saying on sky sports’ ringside that he would put Carl Froch to sleep which is extremely disrespectful. He also tried to antagonize Carl further by insinuating that he was going to cry, which I found to be very strange.

Throughout the build up to their first fight he also minimized Froch’s achievements by stating how he got lucky against Taylor, lost to Dirrell, out classed by Ward and that his win over Bute was overrated. I don’t see how Groves can afford to minimize what Froch has done when he hadn’t fought anyone in the top 15 in the division prior to the fight. I, personally, didn’t mind Groves saying what he said, but the fact that he said he wasn’t being disrespectful is extremely hypocritical.

Of course Carl was disrespectful but it’s not as if he denied it or tried to manipulate the truth. Groves in my eyes was in no position to be disrespectful in any way to Froch because, let’s be fair, he didn’t deserve the shot at the world title as he’d beaten no one credible for people to call him a world class contender. In my eyes, prior to the fight with Froch, he was nothing more than a talented up and coming prospect, nothing more. The brilliant thing about Groves also is that he stated how Froch was constantly contradicting himself, thereby showing hypocrisy once again.

The press conference on Monday was even more ridiculous in my opinion. You had Carl Froch during the press conference who seemed very composed and relaxed and stated how he was looking forward to the fight and the fact that it being staged at Wembley. However for some reason Groves decides to rip it Froch in the press conference, even though Froch showed no contempt or disrespect towards Groves, by saying how he needs to understand that he was going to hit him everywhere, how Froch didn’t want the fight and how there’s no chance Froch can win. Why Groves was so disrespectful I do not know when Carl hadn’t said anything to antagonize that kind of immature response.

What was even more brilliant is that Groves accused Froch of being “unprofessional”. So playing with a rubix cube when your opponent is talking during a press conference and talking to your opponent during a face to face isn’t unprofessional? Exactly. Once again more contradictions. I do admit Froch should’ve kept his cool and not pushed Groves but in hindsight I don’t blame him due to all the unprovoked antagonizing Groves did. To heighten even more unprofessional behavior by Groves he even approached Froch’s brother and referred to him as “sweetheart” when if he was the professional that he claims to be he would’ve ignored Froch’s brother.

Like I stated before I don’t mind Groves being disrespectful as it add fuel to the fire, I just think he needs to stop contradicting himself when he’s saying how he’s not being disrespectful when he clearly is based on the examples I’ve pointed out. Groves has managed to manipulate the majority of the public that he’s the “good guy” and that he’s done nothing wrong when in my eyes he’s just as bad as Froch in terms of disrespect or even worse considering the press conference on Monday. George Groves really needs to take altitude and stop deluding himself that he’s doing nothing wrong when the last press conference suggests that he’s the one instigating all the antagonizing and disrespect.



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