By Scott Gilfoid: According to Carl Froch, he doesn’t see George Groves (20-2, 15 KOs) being able to move to the next level and win a world title because he lacks the toughness neededed for him to withstand the big shots that he’s going to need to be able to for him to win a world title.
Froch isn’t totally negative on Groves’ entire game. He does see him as having good power. But what Froch does question is Groves’ ability to withstand punishment when he’s facing someone that can dish out punishment of their own. In other words, Froch thinks that Groves can give punishment but he can’t take it in return, and he sees that as ultimately Groves’ downfall. He won’t be able to ever win a world title unless he can take an occasional heavy shot.
“To sum up George Groves, he is a giver, not a taker,’ Froch told talkSPORT.co.uk. “He can dish punishment out and he is good on the offense, but he can’t take punishment. If you want to become a world champion and dominate at world level, you have to be able to take a punch. You have to be like myself, or Mikkel Kessler, or Jermain Taylor, or Jean Pascal, or Arthur Abraham – these fighters that go 12 rounds with me.”
Well, it’s hard to find anything wrong with what Froch’s saying based on how easily Groves folded in his two fights with him. Groves didn’t look good when he started getting hit back in both of their fights, and he sure as heck didn’t look good in getting hit by the feather-fisted Christopher Rebrasse last Saturday night in London. Groves’ head was whiplashed a number of times by Rebrasse’s shots, and there was a couple of times where Groves retreated to the ropes where I was worried that he was about to drop for the 10 count if Rebrasse had tapped him again with a shot.
“I don’t think George Groves is tough enough. He may prove me wrong but, from what I saw the other night, I don’t see a future world champion at any sort of great level,” Froch said.
It’s not just Groves’ chin and toughness that are in question here, it’s his stamina. He looked like he’d already gone 12 rounds by the time the 4th round rolled around. This isn’t the first time that Groves has looked exhausted. He was tired in the James DeGale, Glen Johnson and both Froch fights.
It might be that Groves’ stamina issues will be a permanent part of his game. If that’s the case then only thing he can do is to try and slow things down by fighting at a more measured pace. Of course, that won’t help his chin problem any, but at least he would be taking care of one problem if he slowed down and cut his work rate to about one-fourth of what he’s been doing. He’d obviously have to use his feet more because if he stops throwing as many punches then he’s going to be getting nailed more often.
Comments are closed.