Froch v Groves II: Unfinished Business

By Lee Shaw - 04/01/2014 - Comments

froch535By Lee Shaw: On May 31st the hugely anticipated rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves will take place at England’s national stadium, Wembley in front of 60,000 fans. It is now time to move on from the controversy of the first fight and look forward to what will once again be a spectacular event with two of Britain’s finest ready to battle it out for the IBF and WBA Super Middleweight titles.

Carl Froch (32-2, 23 KO’s) will be looking for a much improved performance this time around having been put on the canvass in the first round last time out, being beaten to the punch by the noticeably quicker Groves on many occasions. The general consensus seems to be that Froch overlooked Groves, eyeing bigger names for future bouts including a rematch with Andre Ward and other possible fights in Las Vegas.

Groves was also viewed as a huge underdog and not ready for a fight of this magnitude with his limited experience, with Carl also believing that George was not deserving of a shot to try to take his titles. Whether training was affected or the effort not being that of previous fights or not, this time around will be very different as Froch knows that he cannot take Groves lightly for a second time and will more than likely come into this fight in the shape of his life. I believe that Carl will try to out muscle and bully Groves the way he did against Lucien Bute looking for an early stoppage.

George Groves (19-1, 15 KO’s) on the other hand approached the first fight feeling that he could produce the upset using a combination of speed and power along with good movement, even telling Carl before the fight what punches he would land in the first round but even George would have been surprised when the big right hand dropped Carl to the floor in the first. George will have added pressure for the rematch as there is an expectation upon him that was not present in the first installment, George was expected to lose but after his performance the first time around many fans believe now is time for him to take over from the 36 year old Froch. To do this George will have to stick to a similar game plan to the first fight but also be wary that Froch will be looking to put him under pressure from the first bell. The key for me is the jab, if he can work behind the fast jab frustrating Carl and stopping him from getting into a rhythm, using good movement to avoid the pressure he will be put under by Froch.

The mind games have been a big part of the build up to both fights whether it be Groves getting under Froch’s skin in the Ringside studio, completing a Rubik’s cube during the press conference for the rematch and giving away his fight plan at the pre-fight press conference or Froch’s verbal assaults in during head to heads, his brothers constant verbal abuse towards George and the premeditated shove in the first head to head this time around. It is clear to see neither man is a fan of the other but George appears to have the upper hand regarding mind games as he seems to rile Carl whereas he seems able to shrug off Carl’s insults.

My prediction is that Groves will produce again and this time close out the show where he failed to last time but Froch is always a major threat and if he does step up a level from the previous fight it could be a long night for Groves. Ultimately I am looking forward to what should be an explosive fight full twists and turns and a special night for British Boxing.



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