Froch vs.Groves: George getting Carl at the right moment

By Boxing News - 10/17/2013 - Comments

groves45By Scott Gilfoid: Sometimes champions get long in the tooth and end up getting picked off by a young lion. I think we might be seeing that with IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (31-2, 22 KO’s) with him starting to show some age in his last fight against Mikkel Kessler. There was some definite signs that the 36-year-old Froch is slowing down.

For Froch’s opponent George Groves (19-0, 15 KO’s), he’s got to be pleased that he’s getting Froch right when he’s starting to show signs of age and wear. Froch and Groves will be facing each other next month on November 23rd at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Besides the age factor, I think Froch may be slowing down because he’s being buried by his own success. The guy has made a ton of cash in his last few fights, and with that good money it’s got to be hard for him to keep his head on his shoulders. For example, just to day Froch posted a picture of himself purchasing a brand new Mercedes. The car looks like it has a price tag of $100,000 easy. I mean, how do you stay hungry when you’re driving around with a car like that? Froch needs to be in a clunker, living in a small apartment, living the hard live to stay motivated.

Groves hasn’t made the big cash, and he’s still very hungry. This fight is everything for the guy because if he wants to get the big cash then he’s going to need to give Froch a serious hiding on November 23rd. Groves absolutely needs Froch’s scalp for him to get to the next level.

A loss here will for Groves will likely set him back 2 years at least. He could a world title before then if he can get the WBO champion Robert Stieglitz to fight him, but the British will not have forgotten if Groves gets beaten by Froch before that. Groves needs to take out the old lion so that the changing of the guard can occur in the rightful manner of things.

It’s good that Groves got the fight with Froch because I didn’t think for a second that Froch would ever agree to this. I figured that Froch would have had to have been dragged into the ring kicking and screaming to fight Groves, but I’m glad I was wrong. It definitely helps Groves that he and Froch share the same promoter in Eddie Hearn, because if they were with different promoters, then I doubt Groves would have gotten the fight.

Groves needs to put pressure on Froch in this fight to make him work harder than his 36-yard-old body will allow him to. Froch likes to throw a limp jab and power shots one at a time. The way to beat a fighter like that is to put pressure on them, make them word harder than they’re capable of, and blast them down with combinations. Groves has a huge speed advantage over Froch in addition to his youth advantage. I rate Groves’ power as being a little bit better than Frochs’s, and I see his defense as being vastly superior.



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