Boxing News: Carl Froch and George Groves could be set for a spring 2014 rematch • Challenger grieving over end of unbeaten record • Froch felled by Groves and granted controversial win There was bedlam at the end, with men coming close to blows in a ring which had just been the scene of one of British boxings best fights for many years. From the 20,000-strong crowd came a chorus of boos, the majority disgusted by the referee Howard Fosters decision to bring Carl Froch and George Groves world title clash to an end in the ninth round by wrapping his arms around the challenger. Unwilling to hide his own fury with the call, Paddy Fitzgerland, Groves trainer, labelled Foster an amateur working in a professional sport and said he was considering taking legal action against the official. The threat is pretty meaningless given Foster broke no rules and, ultimately, made a judgment call – which is his job. The hurt, however, was real enough and for no one more so than Groves, who left with bright purple swelling under each eye, described his loss to Froch as a bitter pill to swallow and spoke of grieving for the end of his unbeaten record. At one point his voice cracked and it felt as if he could burst into tears. But this was not a man whose world had just caved in, rather someone who had come of age on a heady night in Manchester. The 25-year-old was booed into the ring but left to cheers from spectators who recognised the effort and skill he had displayed against a more experienced and illustrious opponent. Promoter Eddie Hearn perhaps captured the mood best when he said Groves deserves to now be recognised as a superstar. Froch took some severe punishment, was hit harder and more often than in his defeats by Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward, and it could have been over before it had truly started for the 36-year-old when he was floored by a Groves one-two at the end of the first round. The WBA and IBF super-middleweight champion survived a standing eight count but such was the ferocity of the overhand right that Groves planted on Froch that he fought on with severe pain in the jaw. Froch later insisted his jaw was fine and his victory just, and that by intervening one minute and 32 seconds into the ninth, Foster had saved George Groves career after the challenger had wobbled after taking a searing right to the temple followed by a flurry of body shots. Yet there was also recognition from the winner that Groves, whose record now stands at 19 (15)-1-0, proved a better fighter than I thought, and accepted that he deserves a rematch. Id love a rematch, said Groves. Its just a shame that it might come about with me as the challenger; it should happen with me as the champion. This fight should never have been stopped. I was dictating the fight, winning the jab exchanges, and his tank was empty by the ninth. The referee made the wrong decision. Ive got a loss on my record that Ill never get over, but Ill make adjustments and come back fitter, stronger and better. I truly believe I am a great fighter and Ive proved that I belong at this level. There is little stopping a rematch taking place, most likely in the spring of 2014. Groves undeniably deserves another world title crack having come into this contest as the mandatory IBF challenger, while Froch has few other options having already fought four of the planets other five leading super-middleweights, beating three of them. He has made no secret of his desire for a rematch with Ward, the No1, having been outclassed by the American in New Jersey last December. Yet after this less-than-convincing win, the 32nd of Frochs career, Ward, who was supreme in victory against the previously undefeated Edwin Rodríguez earlier this month, may not see the point. Crucial to a Froch-Groves rematch is the fact they share a promoter and Hearn is in no doubt that a second contest between the pair should happen. I cant see demand for any other fight than a rematch, he said. What else is Carl going to do; a voluntary defence? At this stage of his life he wants the biggest fights and a Grove rematch is the biggest fight around. The fighters came into Saturdays battle on the back of hotter-than-normal trash talk and with Groves, contesting a world title for the first time, insisting he knew exactly how to beat a man who had literally brought him to his knees during a past sparring session and had vowed to flatten him here. Groves even detailed exactly how he would dismantle the champion and was almost as good as his word; taking the centre of the ring and dictating proceedings straight after the first bell. There was more of the same in the second, with Froch looking groggy after the knockdown which drew gasps of shock from all inside the venue, and, as Groves also outlined, a stepping up of the pace in the third from behind an accurate jab. It was then, however, that Froch got on to the front foot and began asserting himself, with Groves finishing the round with swelling under his left eye. The sixth saw a breathtaking trading of blows, with more shots laid by both fighters in the seventh and eight. Then came the denouement, and while Groves was rocked by Froch, having taken yet more punches to the head and chest, he appeared in no serious danger when Foster stepped across the fighters and brought the drama to an end. Groves erupted in fury, and rightly so given he led 78-73, 76-75, 76-75 on the judges scorecards. Cue boos from the crowd, with Froch describing those aimed at him as devastating. He added: I had him [Groves], simple as that. If the referee did not get in the way, he would have been hit with more shots and that could have been career ending. Instead, this was the night Groves proved himself as a top-level fighter, that all his pre-fight talk could be backed up with bravery, brutality and refined technique. Froch deserves credit for how he rode the early storm and, therein, showed his power as well as durability. But overall this was a fight in which he very much looked a man deep into a punishing career. Afterward Froch claimed to have a couple of fights left in me — a rematch with Groves could well prove his last.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 09:07:13 +0000
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