Martin Murray: I expect Froch to beat Groves

By Boxing News - 05/28/2014 - Comments

froch95By Scott Gilfoid: #4 WBC, #5 IBF, #13 WBO middleweight contender Martin Murray thinks that IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (32-2, 23 KO’s) will come out on top in his fight on Saturday night against George Groves (19-1, 15 KO’s). Murray, who failed in his own title shot last year against WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, thinks that the 36-year-old Froch has enough left in the tank to defeat the 26-year-old Groves despite Froch’s advanced age. But Murray sees it as a fight that will be a close one.

“I’d be there, except it will mess with my preparation. I expect Frochie to win. He’s been in a lot of wars and the last fight was his worst performance. But I think he’s still got a big fight in him and will be well up for it. He’ll be looking to put it straight. I reckon it will be a pretty close fight.”

Froch probably does have enough for another war if that’s what comes of his fight on Saturday night. I don’t think Groves is going to be stupid enough to fight Froch in a toe-to-toe battle, because if he uses that battle plan for the fight, then he’d have learned zero from his previous fight against Froch. Groves says he’s learned from the fight and improved. Well, he can’t say that if he meets Froch in the center of the ring for another war.

That would be showing that Groves hadn’t learned a thing. It’s not that I don’t think Groves would have a decent chance of beating Froch in a war, but it’s probably not the right approach if he wants to guarantee himself a victory. If you look at what Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward both did in dominating Froch, they used their boxing skills to make him look bad. Groves needs to do the same.

Murray (27-1-1, 12 KO’s) will be fighting next month against #8 WBA Max Bursak (29-2-1, 12 KO’s) on June 21st at the Salle des etoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco. Murray needs to think about fighting for another world title sooner or later before he ages out. He’ll be turning 32 in September, and he probably should have stepped up and fought WBA champion Gennady Golovkin a long time ago and got it over with. It’s not as if Murray is young enough to wait Golovkin out or anything. Both guys are around the same age, although Golovkin looks to be in his mid-20s physically.



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