By Scott Gilfoid: While former IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch has gotten a ton of credit for selling out the 80,000 seat Wembley Stadium a year ago against George Groves, trainer Virgil Hunter believes that it was Groves who brought the fans in, not Froch.
Groves is the one that worked his backside off building the second fight with Froch by giving countless interviews, and by showing a marketing ability that few fighters are able to do. Hunter says Froch wasn’t even talking during the weeks before the fight. It was Groves that drove the process and made it a huge fight. Hunter feels that Froch didn’t want the rematch with Groves and had to be pushed into the fight, even though there was a ton of money to be made due to Groves’ hard work in creating interest.
It’s too bad that Groves didn’t make the kind of money that Froch got for that fight, because with all the hard work that Groves did in building the fight, he should have gotten a better deal.
“George Groves is the one that made that Wembley fight,” Hunter said to Figthhype.com. “Carl Froch didn’t even want to fight George Groves again. Groves intimidated Froch, talking crazy. Groves generated the interest in the fight and he promoted the fight because he did all the talking. Froch wouldn’t even talk to Groves, wouldn’t even respond to him, so he was not instrumental in making that fight. He’s not responsible for drawing 80,000 people. George Groves is and he has to accept that. George Groves was the reason why Wembley filled up that night. George Groves was the draw.”
Hunter sees Froch as having no interest in getting back in the ring with his fighter Andre Ward. He thinks Froch doesn’t want to go through the ordeal of fighting Ward a second time due to the way he lost previously to Ward in 2011. Hunter thinks Froch is afraid to avenge the defeat.
Froch was recently talking about wanting to fight Gennady Golovkin, but that fight too doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn is saying that he thinks Froch will be retiring from the sport rather than fight Golovkin.
It’s unclear why Froch suddenly clammed up and stopped flapping his gums about the Golovkin fight. There are some boxing fans who are already saying that Golovkin retired Froch. It does look very peculiar the way Froch has gone quiet with Golovkin on his tail trying to get a fight against him.
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