Kessler: Groves must go to war Last Updated: 18:11 30/05/14 Mikkel Kessler believes George Groves must put himself through another brutal battle with Carl Froch if he wants to win their rematch. Britains bitter rivals will meet again this Saturday at Wembley, live on Sky Sports Box Office, and Kessler can offer insight into both men. The Dane shared two thrilling contests with Froch, winning the first on points in 2010, before suffering a decision defeat at the hands of The Cobra last May. And Kessler sparred with Groves in the build-up to that fight so is fully aware of the Londoners attributes. He will be an interested onlooker at ringside this weekend, having confirmed his intention to resume his career, and offered some advice to The Saint as he attempts to avenge his first defeat. Asked for the secret to his win over Froch, he told skysports: It was a lot of punches, it was a war. You have to give him hell, throwing a lot of punches at Carl, a lot of combinations at him. When I see the fight number two that I lost, I put my combinations together. I hit him hard and solid. I had the best solid punches in that fight, but Carl, when you hit him once, will always come back with some punches. Thats what Groves has got to do. Hes a counter fighter and hes very fast and thats where Carls weakness is. He needs to have the final word in the exchanges. Excited Froch was forced to overcome a first round knockdown before forcing a controversial stoppage win back in November. Kessler accepts the Nottingham mans admission that he overlooked Groves, but expects him to have prepared more diligently on this occasion. He said: Carl is a good fighter. I dont know how much he can change, but Im sure of one thing: that hes trained very hard for this fight and will do anything to win it. Im sure of that. His last fight, he didnt think it was a walkover but he thought Groves wasnt that good. But Froch is not the only man who needed to make changes as Kessler took note of how Groves wilted under a late onslaught. He feels the younger man exerted all his energy in a frenetic start and urged him to keep his head, amidst a red-hot atmosphere at Wembley. He was very excited when he fought Carl; of course theres a lot of pressure on him. Hes very hungry, wants to go forward, but he gets very tired out, said Kessler. Carl, hes a very good finisher and you can see that. He got more and more tight and the punches came more and more from Carl, who has been fighting so many World Championship fights. He should not be that tight on Saturday, he should try to relax more and control the fight. Great The feud between the two Brits has continued to simmer ahead of the second fight, with the two men swapping insults at every opportunity. There is no sign of the mutual respect that Kessler shared with Froch, but he understands how tensions can boil over as a fight approaches. Sometimes in the press conferences you can be excited and say something you probably wouldnt in a normal day. I dont know what triggered that, but I know they hate each other. Thats a fact, said Kessler. Im too old for that. Carl, hes a gentleman in my eyes. When you come to the fight, the week up to the fight, you can say something (to each other) in the press conference. But when we stand there, we go into the weigh-in, were not friends. That is how it is. Its good to build a fight like that.
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 20:09:32 +0000
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