Dyer hoping Groves beats Froch in rematch

By Boxing News - 04/04/2014 - Comments

groves65677By Scott Gilfoid: Danny Dyer from EastEnders is hoping that George Groves (19-1, 15 KO’s) beats IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (32-2, 23 KO’s) in their second fight on May 31st at the Wembley Stadium in London, UK. Dyer thinks that a victory for the 26-year-old Groves would set up a huge rubber match between the two fighters later on in the year, and he’s hoping that this can take place.

Froch was given a 9th round stoppage over Groves last November when the referee working the fight Howard John Foster jumped on Groves during the heat of the action and inexplicably stopped the fight to give Froch a win. It was one of the strangest things I’ve seen in British boxing. The controversial stoppage actually helped both Froch and Groves, because it gave them an excuse to fight each other a second time and get another big payday. Had Foster let the fight play out, we would have likely seen a decisive winner, and the two fighters would have gone their separate ways to likely a smaller payday in their next bouts.

“I think it’s in everyone’s interest if he (Groves) nicks it because it sets up the third one – not that anyone is going to jump down on the canvas,” Dyer said to Sky Ringside. “I think it would be a beautiful thing if Groves nicks it and we get a decider. It’s the young gun against the older fighter who has sort of done it all, against the guy who is up and coming and wants it all. He Froch] is a great fighter. He has been around for a long time and he’s proved himself in that fight but I love George.”

Dyer is right. Froch has been around for ages. He’s been lucky in the case of his fights against Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell, both of which he’s quite fortunate to have beaten. Froch’s age really didn’t start to show until recently in his second fight against Mikkel Kessler last year. In that fight, Froch was missing badly, spinning around completely, and looking like he’d lost a couple of steps. Froch followed that fight up with another off performance against Groves last November, which confirmed in my mind that Froch is starting to show his age.

Yeah, Froch got the win over Groves, but he looked horrible until the 9th round, and even then he didn’t look in getting the controversial stoppage. In replay, Froch nailed Groves with a wild right to the head, and he then shoulder bumped him into the ropes. The referee then jumps in and halts the fight. Then while Groves is being held in a headlock by the referee, Froch gets in two free shots against the defenseless Groves. Just very poor stuff from Froch.

I thought Froch should have been disqualified for the two shots after the fight was halted, but then again, I don’t think the fight should have been halted. I mean, Froch shoulder bumping Groves is no reason for the referee to have halted the fight unless we’re going to include bumping as a way of stopping a fighter.



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