Tickets sold out in the space on an hour. It will break the post-war attendance record of 55,000 (Ricky Hatton vs Juan Lazcano, City of Manchester Stadium in 2008. Venue, Wembley with an 80,000 seat capacity, and Michael Buffer , the most famous ring announcer on the planet, will be there to welcome both warriors to the 60,000, and more, jam-packed stadium.
Promoters have a habit of exaggerating the significance of a fight but who can argue with Eddie Hearn’s just yet when he claims this could be the biggest fight in British boxing history ? I can’t! The stats say it all!
The build up to the fight confirms what we expect from both fighters on the night. The tension at the press conference was enough to make anyway in the room feel nervous. I felt uneasy watching it via youtube. This was only heightened when both fighters squared up; Froch stood, unable to look Grove’s directly in the eye, with a uneasy calmness that struggled to seal his undercurrent of genuine emotion. Was it a tinge of anger or was he struggling with the pressure of the big night that was rapidly glooming over him. This was a far cry from the body language of Groves. Groves was pressed up close to the ‘Cobra’, looking directly at his rivals face.
This is all old news now but thinking of it fills me with anticipation that makes me slightly agitated; May can’t come quick enough.
Now back to outside the ring where long after the first fight, fans are still throwing their verdict back and forth.
People still haven’t quite got over the controversial stoppage, and the heated debate still remains unresolved……..and I will continue to keep that debate burning strongly!
Many critics favour Froch in the next fight. Their argument is that if the fight continued groves would have been brought to his knees anyway, even if the fight was stopped prematurely. I remember reading another article in which the writer stated,
“I’m very confident that Groves will be unable to repeat the feat that he achieved in the first fight when he floored Froch with such a devastating blow in the 1st round, because I believe that he simply landed a fluky punch on a “cold” and unprepared version of Froch.”
So yes this is where I begin to sway my argument in favour of Groves.
He/She also went on to believe that,
“…….the public outcry of the so-called “robbery” from the first fight will compel the judges’ to favour the title challenger when scoring any close rounds. This means that Froch will either have to dominate his opponent or score a knockout to win, because if the contest is even remotely close on the scorecards, in light of the way the last fight ended, then George will emerge victorious by gaining a unanimous point’s verdict.”
Firstly, I’m not pulling these comments out to make a mockery of the article, I just feel they are just the kind of comments I need to argue my point.
I have relayed the fight over and over again. All I continue to retrieve from the analysis of the last outing was that for the majority of the fight, Froch was struggling to get a hold on the game. Contrary to what the article highlighted above concluded there was no reason to consider the first round knock down a fluke. Groves hit cleanly 3 times just before he unloaded that clear and precise, solid jab on the end of Froch’s chin. Let’s also not forget the fact that the bell rang second’s after the count, and for them few seconds Groves was banging ‘The Cobra’ left, right and centre. So nevermind what would have happened to Groves if the fight hadn’t been stopped? What on earth would have happened to Froch if it wasn’t so late in the round?
As the fight went on the domination didn’t really falter until the 8th Round. In the seventh Froch was rocked twice but unfortunately Grove didn’t position his footing to follow up any further on his success. Success on Grove’s behalf was nothing to do with being a one-trick pony, he was teaching Carl a boxing lesson. Better was ‘St, George’ at the counter jab which frustrated Froch. He was quicker with his punches and faster with his foot moment. In the early stages he was even beating Froch in the close-up scraps, including the one that led to a knock down. The fight continued this way and if, and when, the fight did turn around, Groves would only have himself to blame. He became careless and slightly arrogant which generated a sloppy defence. Sloppy defence though, a flurry of punches later, and still Groves was standing before the Referee intervened. They claim Froch to have a good chin!
It was easy to see that Froch was no match for Groves in the boxing department. I admit Froch looked dangerous every time he let his arms swing but it only took a swift duck and side step, and Groves was out of danger until the last two rounds where he became careless. This was all in the Londoners favour not including the generosity of the referee when it came to penalising Froch on numerous occasions.
What is left is the counter-argument that Froch wasn’t mentally prepared for the …..Woah,Woah, Woah!!!! Groves had altercations in his training camp. Broke up with old trainer, change trainer at short notice, arrived at press conferences without a team and had to face the hostility from the crowd.
With that out the window lets look to the positives for the the next fight. Paddy Fitzpatrick. Until the previous clash Paddy was unheard of to many boxing fans but a quick look at his website is very enlightening if you’re unaware of the experience this man has. Many viewing him as one of the country’s best. Best of all, Saint George Groves will be entering into the record crowd on his home turf fitter, more focused, wiser and walking back out, the new IBF and WBA Super mIddleweight champion of the world.
