froch35 By Nick Pullen: Carl Froch has NOT undergone any psychological transformation – whatever you might think you saw when he and George Groves appeared on Ringside.

In the aftermath of their first fight, Froch appeared unable to shake himself out of a state of denial. He was disinclined to give Groves respect. He was adamant that the fight had been stopped at the right time. His initial responses to calls for a rematch were tepid at best – ultimately he had to be forced into giving one.

In sticking to those lines – lines running contrary to public opinion – Froch dug himself into a hole. His denials were contributing heavily to a climate in which Groves could continue to needle him with ease.

At every press conference ahead of the second fight all Groves needed to do to put pressure on Froch was to keep on repeating the things Froch was denying – forcing him to deny them again and making him look less and less the man his ring record tells us he is.

For Groves it was an easy point-scoring exercise. And Froch wasn’t handling it. His refusal to engage in a face-off on the Wembley turf and his subsequent shoving of Groves were both indications that Groves was winning the mind games – again.

Following that Wembley fracas somebody sat Froch down and got through to him. Continuing to deny Groves respect damaged only Froch. The continued denials represented the central component of an ongoing sideshow that could only distract from Froch’s preparations for the rematch. The denial was undermining the champion. It was diminishing him. If not the original cause of his obvious emotional agitation, it was certainly the fuel that kept the agitation burning.

What we saw last week on Ringside was not evidence of psychological transformation – just a change in tactics designed to un-tool George Groves. What we saw was Froch denying George Groves the succulent fruits of Froch’s previous denials…

Asked if he now had more respect for Groves, Froch replied: ‘100% I’ve got more respect for George Groves as a fighter… he fought a fantastic fight. There’s no hiding from it… he put me over… it was a hurtful shot… a wonderfully timed shot by George… it was a great shot… It was a hard 6 rounds definitely…’ This was effusive praise on a scale not previously heard – certainly not without some attendant rancor. This time there was no suggestion that Groves didn’t belong on the same stage.

On the stoppage he had this to say: ‘I for one personally think the fight was potentially stopped a little bit too early. I agree with that. I think that the fight could have gone on… the fight could have been left to go on and be a more conclusive finish… I can identify that. I’m not stupid…’ This is very different from his previous take – one that suggested Groves might have been killed had the fight lasted one punch longer.

On the rematch Froch said: ‘I’m excited about it. It’s massive… fabulous…’ Rather than an unnecessary diversion from better things the fight now represented an opportunity to ‘showcase my skills’…

Froch was at pains to point out that he was no longer the ‘angry man’. Instead he was now ‘clear’, ‘calm’ and ‘precise’ – even if the body language didn’t quite manage to mirror the semantics. He was getting back to his Rockyesque roots…. ‘a really good place’.

At times he tried to smile – but only with the wincing conviction of a man with broken jaw. It looked painful. Maybe even brave. And when he played peekaboo behind his hands late on in the exchanges it was meant light-heartedly but came across as the response of a man out of ideas. I found myself sympathizing with his clear discomfort.

It was an unconscious response – perhaps more significant because of it. Froch seemed lost and slightly desperate – unable to deal effectively with Groves and his accusations of lying, his take on Froch’s need for reassurance, his assessment of what Froch can’t put right in the gym and his belief that Froch might pull out of the rematch.

Towards the end of the show signs of Froch’s underlying agitation reappeared and I don’t believe his agitated psychology has changed in any meaningful way. I don’t see how, in the space of a few weeks, he has transformed his internal state and entered some zone of calm and untroubled tranquility. Such transformations evolve and harden over much longer time frames.

All Froch has done is alter his pre-fight strategy to take the sting out of Groves. But any respite won’t last long. Groves has succeeded in extracting respect from Froch – however forced or insincere – but it’s long odds-on he will continue to whale away at Froch’s mind and emotions just as he did in the second half of the Ringside exchange and just as he’s done since the first fight was announced. Froch’s new-found state of calm is sure to be tested to destruction over the next 3 weeks.

Of course, Froch is nearer the end of his career than the start. And in dropping his previous denials he is not so out-of- step with public sentiment as he was. He was at risk of casting himself as the ‘black hat’ in this second fight. That is no longer the case.

He’s regained something with his change of strategy. We like him more now than we did when he seemed to be stuck up his own backside. We like him better when he compares himself to Rocky Balboa than when he referred to himself as an international star. As a result, when the end of his ring career comes, we’ll be more inclined to tune in and watch him on Celebrity Masterchef or Dancing on Ice.

Maybe Froch and his people are thinking further ahead than I credit them for.